Mosquitoes Invade Iceland: A Chilling Sign of Climate Shift

Reykjavík: For the first time ever, mosquitoes have been discovered in Iceland, a place that, along with Antarctica, was previously considered mosquito-free. The surprising find is being linked to the accelerating effects of climate change, which is warming Iceland at nearly four times the rate of the rest of the Northern Hemisphere, The Guardian reported on Tuesday.

The discovery was made by Björn Hjaltason in Kiðafell, Kjósarhreppur, who spotted a peculiar insect on a red wine ribbon trap in his garden on October 16. Suspecting it was a mosquito, he captured it and later found two more, Icelandic daily mbl.is reported. He shared his findings on the Facebook group Insects in Iceland and sent the specimens to entomologist Matthías Alfreðsson at the Natural Science Institute of Iceland.

Alfreðsson confirmed the insects as Culiseta annulata, a cold-resistant mosquito species capable of surviving Iceland’s harsh winters by sheltering in places like barns and basements.

“They were all collected from wine ropes during wine roping aimed at attracting moths,” The Guardian quoted Alfreðsson saying.

This isn’t an isolated case. Across Europe, mosquitoes are expanding their range. In the UK, eggs of the Aedes aegypti (Egyptian mosquito) were found this year, and the Aedes albopictus (Asian tiger mosquito) was spotted in Kent, both species known for spreading diseases, The Guardian reported.

As temperatures rise, Iceland’s glaciers are retreating, and marine life from warmer southern waters, like mackerel, are now appearing in the country’s seas. Scientists have long warned that such environmental shifts could create suitable breeding grounds, such as marshes and ponds, for mosquitoes.

The arrival of mosquitoes in Iceland marks yet another sign of how global warming is reshaping ecosystems in unexpected ways.