Bugs and predators in England and Ireland

[ChooksChick]

Daughters are discussing the existence of bugs & such in England & Ireland. We have horrible stuff like mosquitoes that will carry you off and whatnot. Apparently folks in England and Ireland have none so horrific and yet there must be pollinators and things of that nature, so can a native please clear this up for us?

 

[Oven Ready]

I used to live in Scotland for a while and they have a mosquito like fly called a 'midge' which is tiny (10% of a mosquito or less) but they attack in their tens of thousands and bite you on the head through your hair. They are a million times worse than mosquitos and it's not possible to outrun a swarm.

They also have wasps that seem to delight in stinging you for no reason whatsoever apart from ... "well hey I've got a stinger and you, apparently don't, so take that - bzzzzz"

I don't recall a huge amount of bugs, nothing like what we have here, maybe some small beetles and butterflies and moths and houseflies but nothing giant or too nasty (except the midge and the wasps) not even really much ants either. I think the winters are too cold and the summers are too cold for insects really. They do have Mayflies and honey bees and big fat Bumble Bees - they're sweet.

They don't really have any snakes except for two small kinds, one venomous (if you're a frog) and the other not venomous at all - except Ireland which doesn't have snakes I think.

No raccoons, possums, coyotes and not a lot of feral dogs & cats.

 

[ChooksChick]

Eeek! That midge thing sounds awful! At least we can swat at the errant mosquito, but a thousand midges sounds horrific!

 

[Oven Ready]

They even have a weather forecast thing for midges. It's no joke, they are the most evil little bug I have ever encountered and we have some serious bugs here, from ants that can kill chickens to scorpions and deadly wasps but the sheer numbers of midges and the fact that they are inescapable, even if you get back in the car a hundred will have come in with you and keep on biting, they are the worst insect I have ever experienced. Mosquitos are more than welcome compared to these little monsters.
Midge Forecast

 

[MysticScorpio82]

Quote:
Yuck! Midges sound like the little blackflies we have up here in Maine...

 

[Slinkytoys]

Most of my friends who live in England and Ireland don't have screens on their windows. I thought it odd until I stayed with them over a period of time. A few flies and moths, but that was about it. Pretty cool, I thought----after living in Missouri the home of all things creepy crawly and fly. Ugh.
Slinky

 

[ChooksChick]

Amazing! We have chiggers, flies of all sorts, bees, wasps, and mosquitoes of different flavors. Add to that sand fleas, ticks, fleas, and noseeums, and it's just maddening.

 

[mom'sfolly]

Not to mention that we have chicken predators including, but not limited to: coyotes, foxes, oppossems, bears, wolves, bobcats, pumas, owls, lynxes, hawks, snakes and raccoons.

By the way, how do you spell that ratty looking marsupial's name?

 

[JetBlack]

I think England has adders but no poisonous spiders! They do, however, have huntsman spiders, which are un-Godly huge and take pride in eating as much as they can, for the sole purpose of growing to a size large enough to make an adult human defecate in their trousers.

Hoooooleeeeeee Jebus.

 

[JetBlack]

mom'sfolly :

Not to mention that we have chicken predators including, but not limited to: coyotes, foxes, oppossems, bears, wolves, bobcats, pumas, owls, lynxes, hawks, snakes and raccoons.

By the way, how do you spell that ratty looking marsupial's name?

Opossum