Last Friday the sun was out for a while and there were clouds of midges in the air. It’s a bit generic, as you can’t see any detail, but when I searched under various terms – “midges”, “mosquitoes”, “gnats”, “clouds of small flies” etc. I found out that Winter Gnats are a thing. They are actually in the crane fly family (Trichoceridae) and come out to dance late on winter’s days. The males are dancing in the sunshine to attract the females.
They prefer environments rich in decaying matter like compost. Well, as you will see from the picture the valley is strewn with dead grass at the moment and as the floods recede there is much mud and slimy vegetation being exposed.
There are several species in this family, and they are different to the crane flies I spotted in the summer in that they have additional eyes called ocelli which are sensitive to light helping them to see in the dim light of winter. They also have only one pair of wings. The hind wings are reduced to a pair of small pins which act as a gyroscope for balance and acrobatic flight.