Almost invisible to the naked eye, midges often leave their mark without those bitten initially noticing, and only later do swollen, reddened, intensely itchy welts start appearing on the skin.

One expert, entomologist Urmas Tartes, said the minute insects are biting midges, so small that they are practically impossible to see without magnification.

Under magnification, the insects resemble miniature black flies, similar to those that can blight summers in other parts of the world, notably the Scottish Highlands. Standard mosquito netting, for instance, is no use as a defense, as the mesh is not nearly fine enough to stop the bugs happily flying through the holes; most clothing is a similarly poor barrier.

Midges breed in moist, decaying organic matter, including cut grass, while the presence or absence of standing water is not a guide to the likelihood of their occurrence.

Tartes said that, over the longer term, climate change will contribute to both the spread and activity of the species.

As for the present, Tartes said the arrival of warmer yet wetter weather this summer would bring an uptick in the incidence of midges, with periods of drought the only guaranteed weather condition to see them off.

As for mosquitoes this year, the lack of rain in spring and early summer has meant another summer where they have not been particularly abundant – but some other biting insects, like horseflies, are less rainfall-dependent and so have put in their usual appearance.

As for ticks, feared due to the diseases they can be a vector for – notably tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) and Lyme disease – drier heath forests are one area where they are less frequently found; vaccinations against TBE, though not Lyme disease, are available from pharmacies.

There are many varieties of midges, but the Ceratopogonidae family make up the bulk of the biting type, and can be found virtually worldwide save for the polar regions.

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