They swarm around Scotland, turning up in gardens, at school galas, barbecues, even when you are out walking the dog.

You don't see them for months, then they appear when it suits them, causing irritation, forcing some to stay in doors to avoid the risk of an encounter, and casting a shadow over hopes that everything will look better in the warm summer months.

We talk not of the politicians who are at their most active right now, when the need for votes reaches fever pitch, but the insect which some say is almost as loathed - the dread Scottish midge.

These launch their campaign within the next fortnight, and the count this year will be bigger than ever, according to Dr Alison Blackwell of the Scottish Midge Forecast.

Like the politicians, they have their defenders. As an icon of Scotland, they rank up there alongside whisky and heather. Some would give the tiny persecutors their vote for the role they play as a test of the dedication of tourists, hillwalkers, golfers and picnickers.

We complain about them, they argue, but they are part of our culture and heritage. Would we really want to get rid of them?

It isn't a question to trouble the policy-makers. To borrow the words of one of those almost-as-ubiquitous politicians: Hell, yes.