Spring is finally here in Toronto, and while the city is starting to come alive again and people are eager to get back outdoors, it also means the dreaded season of midges is back.
Most noticeable close to the waterfront, it’s hard to avoid the swarms of thousands of tiny black insects, also known as gnats.
Usually appearing in the early spring, the bugs can stick around throughout the summer before dying in the fall.
Ontario alone has over 800 species of midges, but only a small number in the Toronto area.
As annoying as they are, luckily the species we have in Ontario do not bite, and are actually a positive sign of a healthy ecosystem. They serve as a vital source of food for fish, birds, and other aquatic animals.
Starting off as larvae, the midges live in the water in Lake Ontario and other bodies of water, feeding on sediments like organic and decaying material at the bottom of the lake.
According to Antonia Guidotti, an entomologist with the Royal Ontario Museum, once they become adults they will emerge out of the water and fly.
She tells Global News that they will all tend to emerge at the same time, hence the black clouds of flies that form particularly along the water.
Most of the swarms are composed of males, but once a female arrives, they will mate. As soon as the females lay their eggs in the water, they will die off.
The midges only live from a few days to a couple of weeks at most, though they seem to last a lot longer as different species birth at different times.
If you thought the current infestation was bad, the start of May could be even worse, as it is typically the time of one of the bigger emergences.
Unfortunately, there’s not much you can do besides wait them out, but if you want to keep them out of your home, keep screens on doors and windows closed, and turn off any lights as they are drawn to light.