It is certainly true that the female is deadlier than the male. The male midge is an innocent little creature that goes unnoticed as he feeds on the nectar of flowers. The female on the other hand is a ravenous vampire seeking out the red stuff.
We talk loosely of the 'Highland Midge' but in actual fact 16 species of midge have been shown to bite humans in Scotland. About 90% of midge attacks are down to one species - Culicoides impunctatus. It may feel as if midges are exclusive to Scotland but it is not so - They occur in Scandinavia and right across Siberia and into northern China.
Midges spend the winter tucked up in a nice bog as a larva, especially where there is sphagnum moss but not exclusively so. They are common in the Highlands and on the west coast but less so on the east coast.
They are small 1.5 to 2.0 mm in length, but they have a significant effect. Their mandibles are like short blades that slash though your capillaries and then they suck up the oozing blood. They produce histamines in their saliva that enhance the flow of blood and they take five minutes to become fully engorged if they don't get swatted first. When they bite, foreign proteins get into your blood and this causes the immune response and consequent swelling, reddening and irritation. Some people are allergic and then the response can be more severe.
How do they track you down? Well they are attracted to carbon dioxide so if you could stop breathing they probably wouldn't find you. They also seem to prefer dark clothing and may well detect the heat that you give off. Attacks are most frequent in the early morning and in the evening but can occur though the day and at night. Light rain does not bother them. If the wind speed is greater than 6 miles an hour they do not fly. They don't like the sunlight to be too bright or the air to be too dry. They don't go much above 3 metres above the ground so if you can hover at about 12 feet up in the air you should be OK. They become less common above 700 metres so you can escape up a mountain.
The females bite because they want more protein to lay more eggs. They can lay the first batch without biting but after that a blood meal is needed. It may be little compensation but midges bite cattle and deer more than they bite humans.
They don't like to go into houses much but don't mind tents.
To summarise - if in Scotland, you are in a house, in a desert above 700 metres in altitude, wearing light coloured clothing, don't breathe and give off no heat you should be fine.
The midge season can last from April to October.
To give the Highland Midge its due it doesn't spread human diseases and it does provide food for bats and birds.
Midges belong to the Insect family Ceratopogonidae, The Scots name is Midgie, the Scottish Gaelic is Meanbh-chuileag and the Glaswegian is 'Yer Wee Bastards'.