With its remote location and relatively frigid climate, Iceland has historically been inhospitable to mosquitoes. While mosquitoes may occasionally reach the island via shipping vessels, they have not previously been documented in nature.
That changed last week.
Björn Hjaltason spotted several in his garden — the first being a female mosquito. He found a male mosquito the next day, he told Icelandic media outlet mbl.is. A third mosquito was found in his garden last Saturday.
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“I could tell right away that this was something I had never seen before,” he said.
Hjaltason provided the mosquitoes to the Icelandic Institute of Natural History, which confirmed they belong to a species typically found in Northern Europe.
“It is not clear how the insect arrived here, but it is likely it was transported by freight,” the institute said. “It is uncertain whether it has settled here permanently, but everything indicates that it can survive in Icelandic conditions. The discovery adds to the growing number of new insect species identified in recent years, partly due to a warming climate and increased transportation.”
The Icelandic Meteorological Office said surface air temperatures have warmed by about 1.3 degrees Celsius since the preindustrial era.
