APS biocontrol, a company that makes insect repellents is seeking volunteers for its new product. The candidates, if selected, will have to stand in the open for eight hours and let midges (a type of tiny insect) bite them. The 10 candidates will put the repellent on one arm and let the other arm stay bare and exposed to count the number of midges that land, BBC reported.
The test will be held at a midges’ hotspot where the insect buzz around campers during summer months.
"When a midge lands on your skin, it kind of wanders around before it starts to bite. So at that point, one of the staff running the project will take that insect off, so you get very few bites to be honest," Dr Allison Blackwell from the company said.
The expert also mentioned that the candidates will be bitten but it won’t be that bad.
Meanwhile, a video of a wildlife photographer who was attacked by a huge swarm of midges went surfaced online recently. "Midges can add an extra layer of complication for outdoor photography shoots and jobs. They can make things quite uncomfortable, even whilst wearing a midge net and using repellent," James Roddie told BBC.
According to Britannica, midges are two-winged flies that resemble mosquitoes. However, they are quite different from mosquitoes in terms of nature. They are usually found around ponds or streams during late afternoon or evening and usually fly around in swarms, making a humming sound.
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