midge

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
midge/mɪʤ/

▶noun

• 1 a small two-winged fly that forms swarms near water or marshy areas, and of which many kinds feed on blood. [Families Ceratopogonidae (biting midges) and Chironomidae: many species.]

  ■ used in names of other small flies whose larvae are pests of plants, e.g. gall midge.

• 2 informal a small person.

– origin OE mycg(e), of Gmc origin.