Mosquitoes Have Been Found in Iceland for the First Time Ever

Mosquitoes are one of the most pervasive pests on Earth. Over the species’ 217-million-year history, they have spread far and wide, with only the frigid temperatures of Antarctica and some parts of the Arctic keeping them at bay.

As global temperatures rise, that’s beginning to change. Iceland, formerly one of the last mosquito-free places on the planet, just recorded its first sightings of the biting insect. This week, insect enthusiast Björn Hjaltason discovered one male and two female specimens in his garden in Kiðafell, Kjós and shared his find in the Facebook group Insects in Iceland.

“I could tell right away that this was something I had never seen before,†he told the Icelandic newspaper Morgunblaðið.

Iceland’s rapidly changing climate

Hjaltason collected the mosquitoes and sent them to Matthías Alfreðsson, an entomologist at the Icelandic Institute of Natural History. He confirmed that the specimens belonged to the species Culiseta annulata, native to Europe, Central Asia, and North Africa.

Alfreðsson told RUV, Iceland’s national public broadcasting service, that the mosquitoes were the first ever spotted on Icelandic soil. Prior to Hjaltason’s discovery, Iceland and Antarctica were the only mosquito-free places left on Earth. Now, only Antarctica remains.

It’s too soon to say whether C. annulata has permanently established itself in Iceland, but scientists have long predicted that a cold-resistant species like this could thrive there as global temperatures rise. With Arctic cold no longer a reliable barrier, Iceland’s marshes, ponds, and wetlands would offer plentiful breeding grounds for these insects.

Mosquitoes already present in Iceland could survive the coming winter if temperatures remain above-average. In May, both Iceland and Greenland experienced record-breaking heat. Those heatwaves were symptomatic of a larger phenomenon known as Arctic amplification, wherein the region has warmed four times faster than the rest of the planet.

A global takeover

Iceland is far from the only place where invasive mosquitos are emerging. Across the globe, species are expanding northward as global warming makes previously uninhabitable regions suitable for them. This poses a significant threat to public health as some of these species carry diseases such as malaria, yellow fever, and dengue to new areas.

Experts do not consider C. annulata to be a major disease vector, though it can transmit Tahyna virus, a non-life-threatening illness that causes flu-like symptoms in humans. The emergence of mosquitoes in Iceland may have greater ecological consequences, however, potentially disrupting the food web and competing with native insects.

This all remains to be seen. C. annulata will have to survive the Icelandic winter first, but if global warming trends are any indication, it may not be the last mosquito species to find a foothold there.