If you’ve spent any time in Taiwan, chances are you’ve gotten to know the local mosquitoes. But mosquitoes aren’t the only biting insects people here have to watch out for.

This year, the early arrival of spring weather has a different kind of blood-sucking pest out and about in large numbers.

The biting midge is an insect that is exactly as unpleasant as it sounds. In everyday speech here in Taiwan, they are called “little black mosquitoes”.

But while their bites are just as irritating, biting midges are not mosquitoes. For one thing, they are much harder to detect. Often people only discover they’ve been bitten once an itchy swelling starts on their skin.

In the past, midges weren’t a problem until after the Plum Rain season, which lasts from May into June. But this year, the winter has been mild and warm weather is already here. The midges have noticed.

In the eastern county of Hualien, authorities have launched a spraying campaign meant to keep the midges under control.

This can only do so much: the midges will develop resistance to chemicals if the spraying is too frequent. The chemicals used will also harm the local environment.

Ultimately, officials say it’s up to residents to curb midge numbers by getting rid of the weeds and moss where they live and dumping out containers of standing water.