| Building on the phenomenal success of the Midgeater and Midgeater Plus, the new product — Midg-it — is the first portable Midgeater that has been designed primarily for domestic use. It is lighter, smaller and more portable than its larger cousin.
“It’s a more portable device, its lighter and designed to take on camping or caravan trips,” said Frank Leighton, product development manager of Texol Group.
“It is affective in more breezy conditions because it’s lower to the ground.
“Usually in bad weather, midges go to ground, but this machine fires out a Co2 plume that will catch them even if they have gone down into the vegetation.
“It’s cheaper than the bigger version and will go on sale at £499.
“We are very confident sales are going to be very successful. We expect to sell 200,000 in its first year.
“When we manufactured the Midgeater we expected it to sell 200 in its first year, so to go from 200 to looking at selling 200,000 in the first year of our new product shows how far we’ve come.”
Just like its predecessor, Midg-it uses a flame-free catalytic process producing carbon dioxide mixed with scented bait that makes the midge think that a cow, its favourite snack, is around.
Once drawn to the machine, however, the midges are sucked inside in a process similar to that of a vacuum cleaner and collected in a bag.
The world’s leading authority on midges, Dr Alison Blackwell, of Edinburgh University, has tested the device, which weighs 10.5kg. She said, “I’ve tested this in the field and in the lab and it’s as good as the Midgeater.”
The midge exterminator is a major contribution to the battle against the scourge of the midge, which is reckoned to cost the Scottish economy millions of pounds every year in lost tourism. |
