CLEVELAND — It is midge season in Cleveland and many people have been annoyed by these insects, but Nicole Gunter with the Cleveland Museum of Natural History said they actually help out the environment.

What You Need To Know

  • Midges are insects that come around this time of year

  • They inhabit places that are near bodies of water

  • They look like mosquitoes and mayflies, but they are different

  • These insects do a lot for the environment 

“The midges are actually very beneficial to the environment. They’re a very important food source for fish, birds, bats and other aquatic predatory insects like dragonflies and diving beetles,” she said.

Gunter expressed that midges sometimes get confused for mosquitoes, but they’re actually different. 

“Mosquitoes and midges look very similar to each other. They’re both about the same size. But midges are non-biting, so if one lands on you, it can’t actually bite you,” she said.

People typically see midges the most this time of year, and Gunter explained why.

“The influx actually relates to environmental conditions. So when the water temperature reaches 60 degrees Fahrenheit, we saw the mass emergence of adults,” she said.

Although they might be annoying now, their life cycle is short, and Gunter said they won’t be around for long. 

“They will occur all throughout the summer, just probably not in the numbers that we’re seeing today,” she said.