Buzzer midge
The buzzer midge looks like a mosquito, but it is pale green and does not bite. The boys have fluffy, feathery feelers. In spring and summer they dance together in big buzzing clouds over water.
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Fun facts
Its larvae are called bloodworms, because many of them are bright red.
The larvae live in little silk tubes on the bottom of the pond.
Fish, newts, toads, dragonflies and many other animals love to eat them.
The mother lays her eggs in a jelly blob that sinks to the bottom of the water.
Most asked questions about Buzzer midge
?Do buzzer midges bite?
No. Grown-up buzzer midges do not bite and do not even eat.
?What are the clouds of tiny flies over the lake?
They are often swarms of buzzer midge boys, dancing to find a girl.
?What is a bloodworm?
It is the red larva of a midge like the buzzer midge, living at the bottom of ponds and lakes.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Chironomus plumosus
- Group
- Flies and mosquitoes
- Family
- Chironomidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Diptera > Chironomidae
- Lives on
- Europe, Asia, North America
Where the facts come from
- Chironomus plumosus (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Didier Descouens. CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.
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