Non-biting Midges
Family Chironomidae
As their name suggests, these mosquito relatives do not bite - in fact, they don’t even have mouths - in their flying adult form. These numerous animals are an important part of the marsh’s food web, as their aquatic eggs, larvae (aka bloodworms) and pupae provide food for numerous birds and insects, like grebes and dragonfly larvae, and the adults are prey for swallows, spiders, and other terrestrial predators.