Seems high possibility it’s global warming related.
Who were the test subjects .
The diurnal activity of host-seeking females changed seasonally, beginning at around 07:00–08:00 during the spring equinox, summer solstice, and autumnal equinox, whereas activity began an hour later in winter. Most females were collected during 10:00–16:00, with a peak abundance during 13:00–15:00. Blood-sucking activity of female F. taiwana were positively correlated with ambient temperature with a minimum threshold of 18 °C.
Ya the “no see ems” we have in western canada are totally different. Same with many other countries. noseeums is a pretty vague term describing almost anything tiny that flies.
When I first came here way back when.also never saw .them.
Some randomh toughts to be picked apart.
If they are a foreign specues, introduced, the spread seems logical. Not climate based but time based. Much of low elevation taiwan is not extreme enough to truly prevent spread. Places like Russia and Canada can have this problem, less so here. Unless they used to be a high elevation species naturally. I cant say for certain, but my earlier years in taiwan were mostly spent in mountains where we never saw them.
Tourism reasoning seems like a lazy excuse put forth by governments that dont want to .spend money on grants that arent exporting something. Typhoons will spread these fuckers and establish inside of 5 years EASY. If typhoons can.lift up shrimp and fish and rain them down into new locations, small flying insects no problem. Perhaps this is another argument for introduction.
Having never bred these myself as they arent at all part of my.work other than.annoyung, no clue. But I wonder if perhaps the dufference may be jn their food source. could speculate that either their natural fokd has spread to warmer winters, whuch seems.far more plausible being less mobile than the flying nsect. Or perhaps new species of food sohrces have been.introduced which is HIGHLY likely given the last decades kf.imports and diligence.
Ouch. Some people certainly do have allergies. Im very thankful I dont react. Bodies seem to evolve to their surroundings over time. But when you dive in feet first, not fun.
I found something that WORKS! I was recommended this by a Taiwanese friend. My kids used to get covered in dozens of bites which would swell up to an inch. Kid safe, no chemicals.
Indeed. It is used a lot here locally for said reason. We used to sell it to an essential oil factory for mosquito use. Never tried it with midges for some reason. They mix it.with bees wax.and something to make the creams. A spray does seem nicer.
You guys can buy the plants in any nursery. Not sure exactly why, but the oil makers prefer the large erect solid green leaved variety. Not so much the similar form variegated one. Super easy to grow, wonder if the squished leaf alone will work.
Doctors in Taiwan have created the world’s first vaccine patch to prevent allergic reaction to biting midges. Though not yet approved for human use, it is believed its effects could last up to 10 years.
Well, it’s still full of chemicals. Everything is a chemical.
Perhaps you mean: no man-made chemicals, with the implication that man-made chemicals are all dangerous… but many man-made chemicals are not dangerous, like sodium bicarbonate, which we use in baking.
And as a corollary, many natural chemicals are very dangerous, like ricin, or phalloidin.
This is huge. I wonder will it reduce allergic reactions for all who are bitten.
I am also a bit confused how it works exactly.
Producing antibodies would usually mean you are creating an immune reaction to it. Perhaps it works by desensitization.
I think (much) more, because after the first liter or so I doubt they’d be getting much (because of vasoconstriction and reduced surface blood flow, and later the person dying; I don’t think they feed on dead/cold animals?).
I live in the mountainous area of Beipu, Hsinchu County. These shits are everywhere, even inside the home. As for killing them, I don’t know of an environmentally friendly way that won’t kill anything else.
But we have learned to cope with them using two products. And they do work fantastically well. Avon Skin So Soft bath oil and the Thermacell Radius mosquito repellant.
We went to an outdoor coffee shop once and the shits were driving us crazy. Host gave me some oil, it worked, and now I’m a convert. If you don’t like the oil on your skin, the Thermacell keeps them at bay.
