Midges can be the scourge of holidaymakers

The biting insect, which is notorious for blighting holidays in Scotland, thrives in warm, damp conditions.

Dr Alison Blackwell said about 30% fewer midges had been counted this summer in the 32 official traps that monitor the pest across the country.

However, she said global warming was likely to lead to "perfect midge weather" in Scotland in the long-term.

She said: "Traps that would normally catch hundreds of grammes in a week are only catching tens of grammes.

Tourism hit

"At the beginning of the summer there were as many as ever, but in the past few weeks there have been significantly less."

Dr Blackwell, who runs a spin-off company from Edinburgh University that develops new methods of insect control, prepares a daily midge forecast.

"This is my 16th year of trapping and counting and it is the first year we've had such a hot, dry, second half of the summer," she said.

"They don't like dryness, heat or wind. So it has not been a good year for the midges."

The Scottish tourist industry is estimated to lose about �286m a year because of midges.