Mosquitoes found in Iceland for first time after record heat

Mosquitoes have been found in Iceland for the first time after the country experienced record-breaking heat this spring.

Insect enthusiast Bjorn Hjaltason encountered the mosquitoes over several nights last week while using wine-soaked ropes to observe moths, local media reported.

Mr Hjaltason found two female mosquitoes and one male which were later confirmed to be Culiseta annulata, one of few species that can successfully survive winter.

Iceland was one of only two mosquito-free havens in the world prior to the discovery, partly due to its cold climate. The only other recorded mosquito-free zone is Antarctica.

The mosquitoes were found in Kjós, a glacial valley to the South West of the Icelandic capital of Reykjavik.

Mr Hjaltason shared the news of his discovery on a Facebook page for local wildlife alongside pictures of the insects, describing “a strange fly on a red wine ribbon”, according to Icelandic media.

“I could tell right away that this was something I had never seen before” he said in the post, which was screenshotted and shared by Iceland’s Morgunblaðið news site, adding “the last fortress seems to have fallen.”

Mr Hjaltason sent the insects to the Icelandic Institute of Natural History to be identified, where entomologist Matthías Alfreðsson confirmed his suspicions.

The species are common across parts of Europe and North Africa but it it isn’t clear how they reached Iceland, Alfreðsson told CNN.

Iceland’s cold climate and lack of stagnant water in which the insects can breed are key contributors to the country’s former lack of mosquitoes, the World Population Review said.

But this year, the country broke multiple records for its high temperatures.

Typically, Iceland rarely experiences highs of more than 20C (68F) in May, and when it does those heatwaves will last for no more than two to three days, its Met Office notes. That threshold was exceeded for 10 consecutive days this year in different parts of the country, though.

Iceland also saw its hottest ever day in May, with temperatures reaching 26.6C (79.8F) at Eglisstaðir Airport.

A June study published by the Global Heat Health Information Network noted that such shifts could have “significant” impacts on delicate ecosystems, which have adapted to the cold climate and are sensitive to temperature shifts.

Last year was the world’s hottest on record, and the UN’s climate body has established that human influence has “unequivocally” warmed the atmosphere, oceans and land.

Further monitoring will be required in spring to see if the mosquito species has “truly become established in Iceland”, Alfreðsson added.

Hjaltason, meanwhile, has speculated on the origin of the specimens he observed.

“One always suspects Grundartangi – it’s only about six kilometers from me, and things often arrive with ships and containers, so it’s possible something came in that way,” he told Morgunblaðið.

“But if three of them came straight into my garden, there were probably more.”