University of Aberdeen - Midges face a Monster Challenge

Zoologists are carrying out a trial of a new repellent against the scourge of Scottish summers, the midge. Up to 1,000 competitors in September's First Monster Challenge, a 120km duathlon (cycling and running) around Loch Ness, are expected to volunteer for a survey run by Jenny Mordue, a professor of zoology at the University of Aberdeen. She has been working with the Rothamsted Research Institute on a repellent based on natural chemicals that aims to capitalise on midges' attraction to carbon dioxide exhaled by humans.