Perched on a Pedestal

On a walk on the Irish Hill trail yesterday, winter insects were plentiful.  For the second time this season, I bumped into some winter midges.  The two males I encountered first were walking around on the snow as usual, but the third I found was a female and she was staying put.  I took note of her chosen perch, which was atop a large boulder (she was in the red square in the image below).

 

The tiny midge that I found sitting atop the rock wouldn't budge.  I was short on time, so I just snapped a very quick picture:

So, the question that was going though my head was why?  Did she choose this rock because she had recently emerged from the subnivean (beneath the snow) zone through the opening under the rock?  Did she think this would be a good place to disperse her pheromones to attract a mate? (disclaimer: I'm not even sure that is how midges attract mates)  Whatever the reason, she looked very mighty up on her rock!

Here's a picture of a male I found earlier in the walk, with his feathery antennae: