no-see-um

plural no-see-ums

1. Southern USUSAny biting midge (family Ceratopogonidae), small flies (1–4 mm long); sometimes the species Leptoconops torrens in particular.

   Synonyms: midgie, sand fly, punkie, punky

2. Any biting bug or insect that is normally too small to see with an unaided eye.

   Wherever we look up, there suspended against an areola of humming fluorescent white, is a shadowy funnel of tiny flies, bobbing in the air. 'No-See-Um's. This is what one employee calls them.

   1995, Beloit Fiction Journal, volume 11, page 37

   4 more examples

   These two examples of insect life are the scourge of the North Country, or any country in which they may be found. Many local people refer to any small black fly as a “no-see-Um" but the true bug by that name is indeed very hard to see.

   2000, William W. Forgey, Wilderness Medicine: Beyond First Aid, page 166

   An easy solution is to cover up, because they're not much for getting inside your clothes and they can't bite through even a thin shirt, as mosquitoes can. But it's often too hot in no-see-um country for a lot of clothing.

   1998, Frank Sargeant, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Boating and Sailing, page 103

   ... it's not as widely known as malaria, it can be every bit as painful, tenacious, and dangerous, as some of your fellow Undercurrent readers have told us. Worse yet, the source of the infection is nearly invisible the ubiquitous no-see-um.

   2000, Undercurrent: (Larkspur, Calif.), volume 15, page 14

   One of the biggest scams foisted on the camping community is tent manufacturers extolling their 1995 no-see-um bug netting. No-see-um netting may keep out the tiniest of insects, but unfortunately, it also barely lets air through.

   2007, The Boundary Waters Journal, volumes 21-22, page 103