| Midges | |
|---|---|
| A biting midge feeding on blood through an artificial membrane for insect rearing | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Diptera |
| Suborder: | Nematocera |
Midges comprise many kinds of very small two-winged flies found world-wide. The term does not encapsulate a well-defined taxonomic group, but includes animals in several families of Nematoceran Diptera. While some midges are vectors for disease, many others play useful roles as prey items for insectivores, such as frogs. The habits of midges vary greatly among the component families, which include:[1]
The Ceratopogonidae (biting midges) include serious blood-sucking pests, feeding both on humans and other mammals. Some of them spread the livestock diseases Blue Tongue and African Horse Sickness – other species however are at least partly nectar feeders and some actually suck insect bodily fluids.[2]
Most other midge families are not bloodsuckers, but it is not possible to generalise rigidly because of the vagueness of the term "midge". There is for example no objective basis for excluding the Psychodidae from the list, and some of them (or midge-like taxa commonly included in the family, such as Phlebotomus) are blood-sucking pests and disease vectors.
Most midges, apart from the gall midges (Cecidomyiidae), are aquatic during the larval stage. Some Cecidomyiidae (e.g., the sorghum midge) are significant plant pests. The larvae of some Chironomidae contain haemoglobin and are sometimes referred to as bloodworms.[3]