Menacing midges feel at home

MIDGES with bites that can cause various levels of discomfort in people appear right at home in Tung Chung (東涌 ) and Tsuen Wan (荃灣 ), says legislator Ben Chan Han-pan (陳恒鑌).

And while there is no evidence they carry infectious diseases, Chan said, it is better to be safe than sorry and make war on the tiny pests as soon as possible.

To show numbers, the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (民主建港協進聯盟) member and district councillors put bug stickers at 169 sites in Kwai Tsing (葵青), Tsuen Wan, Tung Chung and on outlying islands from 12 to 16 May. They caught 8,536 midges in the 96 hours. Ten private and public estates were listed as prone to the tiny insects.

Tung Chung’s Yu Tung Court (裕東苑) topped the list with an average of 233 insects per sticker. But Tsuen Wan faces a threat on a wide front, with Tsuen Wan Plaza (荃灣廣場), Belvedere Garden (麗城花園), Lei Muk Shue Estate (梨木樹.), Tsuen Tak Gardens (荃德花園) and Allway Gardens (荃威花園) among the worst with midge captures per sticker from 58 to 139.

The effort followed complaints about mosquitoes and midges as Hong Kong saw its wettest April in 55 years. While mosquitoes need standing water, midges go for moist soil.

The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (食物環境衛生署), which has had 53 complaints about midges in the past three months, does not have a monitoring programme.

A spokeswoman said midges common in Hong Kong are not known to transmit disease.

(This article is published on The Student Standard on 30 May 2016)

Biting midges
http://goo.gl/8HBLRP

Midge bites through presenters arm – The Secret Life of Midges – BBC One
https://goo.gl/s6ILvq