It is the scourge of Scotland, but the dreaded midge is the unlikely star of a quirky new jewellery range.

Preserved for posterity in a selection of earrings, pendants, rings and cufflinks, the quirky products are all the rage among exiled Scots.

Ronnie and Lisa Robinson started off using dead midges to make bird feed, before coming up with the idea of featuring the beasties in hand-made jewellery.

Gardener Mrs Robinson, 45, who also runs The Midge Factory on the isle of Seil, near Oban, Argyll, said: "Our jewellery has gone all over the world, to Australia, Canada and Africa, we sell quite a lot to ex pats as a reminder of home."

"We have midge donors who send us midges by post, we freeze them and label them so that we always know where our midges come from and can say whether they are Glencoe midges, Seil midges, or Loch Lomond midges.

The jewellery comes in two colours, amber and amethyst. Mrs Robinson said: "I mix the midges with a resin and put them into a mould.

"We call it midgenite, I tell children that we have a midgenite mine at the back of the house, I am the head midgeteer and Ronnie is the assistant."

Mr Robinson, 48, said: "It all originates from us wanting to recycle. We have both got environmental backgrounds and we thought it was a waste that the midges from midge machines were just going into the bin.