Editing Midge

{{Short description|Common name for several species of flies}}
{{for|the species formally known as Culicoides impunctatus|Highland midge}}
{{About|the insect}}
{{Distinguish|Midget}}
<!-- If changing this hatnote, please make clear why the Highland midge isn't included in list below -->
{{Wiktionary|midge}}
{{Paraphyletic group
| auto = yes
| name = Midges 
| image = BitingMidge.jpg
| image_caption = A [[Ceratopogonidae|biting midge]] feeding on blood through an artificial membrane for insect rearing
| parent = Nematocera
| includes_text = Families
| includes = See text
}}

A '''midge''' is any small [[fly]], including species in several [[family (biology)|families]] of non-[[mosquito]] [[nematocera]]n [[Diptera]]. Midges are found (seasonally or otherwise) on practically every land area outside permanently arid deserts and the frigid zones.  Some midges, such as many [[Phlebotominae]] (sand fly) and [[Simuliidae]] (black fly), are vectors of various diseases. Many others play useful roles as prey for [[insectivore]]s, such as various [[Wallum Sedge Frog|frogs]] and [[Hirundinidae|swallows]]. Others are important as [[detritivore]]s, and form part of various [[nutrient cycles]]. The habits of midges vary greatly from species to species, though within any particular family, midges commonly have similar ecological roles.

Examples of families that include species of midges include:<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Merritt |editor1-first=R. W. |editor2-last=Cummins |editor2-first=K. W. |year=1996 |title=An Introduction to the Aquatic Insects of North America |publisher=Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company}}</ref>

* [[Blephariceridae]], net-winged midges
* [[Cecidomyiidae]], gall midges
* [[Ceratopogonidae]], biting midges (also known as no-see-ums or punkies in [[North America]]<ref>[https://bugguide.net/node/view/19768 BugGuide]</ref> and sandflies<ref>{{cite web |title=BITING MIDGES OR "SANDFLIES" IN THE NT |url=http://www.education.nt.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0014/3713/BitingMidge.pdf |access-date=2015-01-22 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150122062354/http://www.education.nt.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0014/3713/BitingMidge.pdf |archive-date=2015-01-22}}</ref> in Australia)
* [[Chaoboridae]], phantom midges
* [[Chironomidae]], non-biting midges<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://killem.com.sg/blog/the-complete-guide-to-the-prevention-treatment-and-control-of-midges-in-singapore/|title=The Complete Guide to Midges|date=5 July 2021 |access-date=2023-06-21|language=en-UK}}</ref> (also known as muckleheads,<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://fox8.com/2018/06/04/bug-invasion-muckleheads-caught-on-radar-swarming-back-to-ne-ohio/|title=Bug invasion! Muckleheads caught on radar swarming back to NE Ohio|date=2018-06-04|work=fox8.com|access-date=2018-06-05|language=en-US}}</ref> muffleheads<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2017/06/what_are_midges_learn_all_abou.html|title=What exactly are all these pesky midges? Entertaining video on the insects that swarm Lake Erie|work=cleveland.com|access-date=2018-06-05|language=en-US}}</ref> or lake flies<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.postcrescent.com/story/news/2020/05/15/lake-winnebago-flies-things-know-annual-hatch/3118331001/|title=Why you should never smash lake flies and other facts about the annual Lake Winnebago insect hatch|work=Appleton Post Crescent|access-date=2020-07-15|language=en-US}}</ref> in the [[Great Lakes]] region of [[North America]])
* [[Deuterophlebiidae]], mountain midges
* [[Dixidae]], meniscus midges
* [[Scatopsidae]], dung midges 
* [[Thaumaleidae]], solitary midges

== Examples ==

The [[Ceratopogonidae]] (biting midges) include serious blood-sucking pests, feeding both on humans and other mammals. Some of them spread the livestock diseases known as [[Bluetongue disease|blue tongue]] and [[African horse sickness]] &ndash; other species though, are at least partly nectar feeders, and some even suck insect bodily fluids.<ref name="isbn1-86872-713-0">{{cite book |last1=Weaving |first1=Alan |last2=Picker |first2=Mike |last3=Griffiths |first3=Charles Llewellyn |year=2003 |title=Field Guide to Insects of South Africa |publisher=New Holland Publishers, Ltd |isbn=1-86872-713-0}}</ref>

Many midges are known for having symbiotic relationships with many other organisms. These can be commensal, parasitic or mutualistic relationships. Many of the commensal relationships are found within the family [[Chironomidae]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=TOKESHI |first=MUTSUNORI |date=June 1993 |title=On the evolution of commensalism in the Chironomidae |journal=Freshwater Biology |volume=29 |issue=3 |pages=481–489 |doi=10.1111/j.1365-2427.1993.tb00782.x |issn=0046-5070|doi-access=free |bibcode=1993FrBio..29..481T }}</ref>
[[File: Ceratopogonidae midge sucking Sphodromantis blood IMG 3045ss.JPG|thumb|A midge of the family Ceratopogonidae (lower middle - a branch is its background) sitting on a [[mantis]] sucking its [[hemolymph]] whilst the mantis feeds on a bee]]

Other ceratopogonid midges are major pollinators of ''[[Theobroma cacao]]'' (cocoa tree). Having natural pollinators has beneficial effects in both agricultural and biological products because it increases crop yield and also density of predators of the midges (still beneficial to all parties).<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Forbes |first1=Samantha J. |last2=Northfield |first2=Tobin D. |date=2016-12-26 |title=Increased pollinator habitat enhances cacao fruit set and predator conservation |journal=Ecological Applications |volume=27 |issue=3 |pages=887–899 |issn=1051-0761 |publisher=Ecological Society of America |doi=10.1002/eap.1491 |pmid=28019052}}</ref>
 
The term "midge" is a vague term that refers to a large and diverse group of organisms. Although many are known as "bloodsuckers," there are many different roles that they play in their respective ecosystems.<ref name=":0" /> 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 [[Hessian fly]]) are considered significant pests of some plant species. The larvae of some Chironomidae contain [[hemoglobin]] and are sometimes referred to as [[Chironomidae#Behavior and description|bloodworms]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Walker |first=Ian R. |editor1-last=Smol |editor1-first=J. P. |editor2-last=Birks |editor2-first=H. J. B. |editor3-last=Last |editor3-first=W. M. |year=2001 |chapter=Midges: Chironomidae and related Diptera |pages=43–66 |title=Tracking Environmental Change Using Lake Sediments |volume=4: Zoological Indicators |series= Developments in Paleoenvironmental Research |publisher=Kluwer Academic Publishers |location=Dordrecht, The Netherlands |doi=10.1007/0-306-47671-1_3 |isbn=978-0-306-47671-6}}</ref>

Non-biting midge flies are commonly considered a minor nuisance around bodies of water.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Apperson |first1=Charles |author-link1=Charles S. Apperson |last2=Waldvogel |first2=Michael |last3=Bambara |first3=Stephen |year=2006 |title=Biology and Control of Non-biting Aquatic Midges |number=Insect Note ENT/rsc–15 |publisher=Department of Entomology, North Carolina Cooperative Extension |url=http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/ent/notes/Urban/midges.htm}}</ref> In May 2025, a large emergence of midges caused [https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2025/05/7234edc18b6f-swarming-insects-causing-distress-at-world-exposition-in-osaka.html mayhem at the World Exposition] in Osaka, Japan. 

==See also==
* [[Highland midge]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
{{cite journal|doi=10.1111/fwb.13682|title=Genetic data support local persistence in multiple glacial refugia in the montane net-winged midge Liponeura cinerascens cinerascens (Diptera, blephariceridae)|year=2021|last1=Schröder|first1=Oskar|last2=Cavanaugh|first2=Kirstin K.|last3=Schneider|first3=Julio V.|last4=Schell|first4=Tilman|last5=Bonada|first5=Núria|last6=Seifert|first6=Linda|last7=Pauls|first7=Steffen U.|journal=Freshwater Biology|volume=66|issue=5|pages=859–868|doi-access=free|bibcode=2021FrBio..66..859S }}

{{cite journal|doi=10.11646/zootaxa.4908.2.11|title=A new species of predaceous midge in the genus ''Stilobezzia'' Kieffer from Mexico (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae)|year=2021|last1=Huerta|first1=Heron|last2=Grogan|first2=William L. JR|journal=Zootaxa|volume=4908|issue=2|pages=297–300|pmid=33756629|s2cid=232340155 }}

{{cite journal|doi=10.1016/j.ecoenv.2020.111778|title=Impact of 2,4-D and fipronil on the tropical midge Chironomus sancticaroli (Diptera: Chironomidae)|year=2021|last1=Pinto|first1=Thandy Junio da Silva|last2=Moreira|first2=Raquel Aparecida|last3=Silva|first3=Laís Conceição Menezes da|last4=Yoshii|first4=Maria Paula Cardoso|last5=Goulart|first5=Bianca Veloso|last6=Fraga|first6=Priscille Dreux|last7=Montagner|first7=Cassiana Carolina|last8=Daam|first8=Michiel Adriaan|last9=Espindola|first9=Evaldo Luiz Gaeta|journal=Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety|volume=209|page=111778|pmid=33338803|doi-access=free|bibcode=2021EcoES.20911778P |hdl=10362/126069|hdl-access=free}}

[[Category:Nematocera]]
[[Category:Insect common names]]