Midges

Someone warned me that midges in Klamath Falls are really bad in the summer. Today I had my first run-in with the nasty blighters. They don't bite, so I suppose as far as bugs go they're really not too bad, but they swarm like crazy around Upper Klamath Lake. Today we went to lower Moore park after dinner, which, of course, is prime time for bugs of all sorts. There were so many midges outside our car when we got there I almost drove back home, but this was the first time we'd taken Lydia to the park since she got her cast off. They were thankfully not too thick around the swings so that's where I spent most of my time. They are little green bugs that apparently hatch in the lake and come up to mate in big swarms. They can be found all over the northwest but are particularly plentiful here in Klamath Falls. The scientific name for this type of midge is Chironomus utahensis, as it is also found it Utah, where it was first named. They're known to clog car radiators and people who live in their region often have big piles of dead midges that they need to sweep off their porches every DAY. Yuck, yuck, and yuck. Unfortunately, I also learned that they will most likely be around until September. The internet tells me I should be thankful for the midges since the larvae are fed on by a variety of fish and contribute to the food chain for trophy trout, which Klamath lake is apparently famous for. I'm not convinced that it's worth it. (note: midges were native here, they were not introduced to compete with mosquitos... this picture was taken from a true or false page of the klamath county museum website)