For the first time, mosquitoes have been found in Iceland, ending the country’s long-standing mosquito-free status and raising questions about how the insects arrived.
Mosquitoes have been discovered in Iceland for the first time, a researcher told AFP on Monday. The volcanically active island nation has long been one of the few places on Earth free of the insects.
Three Culiseta annulata mosquitoes — two females and one male — were found about 20 miles north of Reykjavik, according to entomologist Matthías Alfreðsson of the Natural Science Institute of Iceland. “They were all collected from wine ropes … aimed at attracting moths,” he said, describing a method that uses heated wine mixed with sugar to lure insects.
Local resident Björn Hjaltason, who spotted the mosquitoes in his backyard, told The Icelandic Monitor, “If three of them came straight into my garden, there were probably more.”
Alfreðsson said it was “the first record of mosquitoes occurring in the natural environment in Iceland,” suggesting they may have arrived via ships or containers. While climate change has made conditions milder, he noted the species “appears to be well adapted to colder climates,” capable of surviving long, harsh winters.
The discovery marks a new ecological development for Iceland, which has remained mosquito-free even as neighboring Norway, Scotland, and Greenland host the insects.