Garden pond in Scotland and risk of midges?

[donmcleman]

Hi, I'm planning to create a small wildlife pond in my garden - there isn't much space so it's going to be around the size of a barrel. The garden is located in north east Scotland close to the sea. So not the heartland of midges, but bad enough for people who they zone in on.

I am concerned that even a pond of this size would mean standing water attractive to midges - is this the case or am I totally mistaken? I really don't know

 

[Monikieman]

I'm in the east of Scotland north of Dundee. I get hammered some nights by them just in slightly wet grass or doing a bit gardening. We have a few stone troughs filled with water and there were what I think mosquito larvae on them this year. I really don't think it would make that much difference.

 

[Toddy]

Newts if you want a true wildlife pond, or goldfish (carp family, any variety) if you want a pretty pond with no real 'wild'. The carp will eat anything, including midge and mozzie larvae.
The newts will take a lot of them but only when they're actually breeding in the pond.
The goldfish will eat the newt young too, so the two don't mix.

M

 

[21st century pict]

I wouldn't worry about, my brother has had two large fist tanks in his garden for years, he's never even mentioned midges. Goldfish and coy eat live mosquito larva, probably midge to, NE Scotland.

 

[samobaggins]

If you have a pump in it to move the water around it won't be an issue either.

 

[GGTBod]

Midge larva live under birch bark and in ground based moss, mosquito larva are the water associated pest

 

[Toddy]

My ponds have wet soil edges, I never gave it a thought that this one might not

SNH has this to say about them….
2.2 Life history
The eggs are laid in wet soil in boggy flushes, mires and in the transition zone at the edge of bogs. The larvae are narrow and worm-like with a distinct head, and they live in the soil. They are omnivorous and their diet includes small animals such as nematodes, other insect larvae, fungi and parts of plants. The larvae are semi-aquatic; they drown in open water and desiccate in dry soil. In suitable habitat the larvae can be found in densities of up to about 700 per square metre. The density of larvae can vary markedly over short distances depending upon the water content of the soil.
The larvae develop slowly when compared to some other species in the genus - possibly because of the nutrient-poor soil. The larvae
over-winter in their final instar and pupate in the spring.
In Scotland the adult midges begin to emerge in April and they are active on the wing until October. Within this period there are often two peaks in emergence, one in late May/early June and the second in late July/early August. There are several theories about why there are two peaks in emergence. There could be more than one generation in a year, more than one cohort in the population or climatic factors such as dry periods in the previous summer may be responsible. There is no firm evidence to distinguish between these theories, but C. impunctatus breeds in nutrient poor soil and is unlikely to develop fast enough for two generations in a year. In addition several studies have only found one peak in emergence so the pattern may not be fixed.

 

[GGTBod]

The info i shared was gathered when i watched that recent BBC documentary The Secret Life of the Midge, apparently the larva are savage cannibals too

 

[Toddy]

Isn't it funny how something so small can cause so much misery ?

M

 

[GGTBod]

Think in some strange way too we gotta be glad the larva eat each other or the flying numbers would be tenfold what they are

 

[donmcleman]

Thank you all so much for your knowledge and advice. You've convinced me to go ahead and see what happens, if problems appear I'll still have the option of filling it in and planting flowers

 

[Uilleachan]

Never had any experience of midges in the NE and having spent quite a bit of time there I concluded that there are hardly, if, any, plus they don't lay eggs in water.

There are however 30+ species of mosquito to be found in the UK, 3 of which can bite people, the rest specialising on smaller mammals and roosting birds etc. The only time I've been mozzie bitten in the UK, was in the NE

Biting mosquitos here tend to be an early spring/late autumn phenomena and are relatively rare, but cool damp weather can extend their season into the summer months. That said, the I'd think the likelihood of a pond in the NE offering succour to biting mosquitos is unlikely, in a normal year.