Bug Report: No-see-ums

They may be the smallest of the biting flies in Canada, but they sure can pack a mean bite. No-see-ums, also known as biting midges, are infamous for the burning sensation they produce when they bite their prey.

In addition to biting people, no-see-ums also feed on livestock and birds. They can be encountered nearly everywhere in Canada, even the Arctic.

In late June and early July, these flies can take a real bite out of camping fun in forested areas of eastern Quebec and the Atlantic provinces. Their numbers also tend to be high in the Maritimes around coastal salt marshes.

Your best protection against being bitten by no-see-ums is to spray yourself well with insect repellent before heading out into areas where no-see-ums are prevalent.

Meantime, it's not just people, livestock and birds that have to watch out for no-see-ums. Within the no-see-um world itself, males are constantly on alert and for good reason. Female no-see-ums have been known to consume their male counterparts during the mating process.

Some information courtesy of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
Image courtesy of Ed T. Schmidtmann, USDA/ARS