Mosquitoes Discovered in Iceland for the First Time Following Record Heat

For the first time in recorded history, mosquitoes have been discovered in Iceland — a development scientists say may signal the effects of a rapidly warming climate.

Until now, Iceland and Antarctica were among the only two regions in the world known to be free of mosquitoes. However, rising global temperatures are allowing insects, including mosquitoes, to spread into new territories previously too cold for them to survive.

According to the Natural Science Institute of Iceland, three mosquitoes belonging to the Culiseta annulata species were recently found in Kiðafell, Kjós, approximately 30 kilometers north of the capital, Reykjavík.

The insects were first captured by Björn Hjaltason, an amateur naturalist, who shared photos of what he described as a “strange fly” in a Facebook group for insect enthusiasts. He had caught the mosquitoes using a red wine ribbon trap designed for moths.

Hjaltason later sent the specimens — two females and one male — to the Icelandic Institute of Natural History, where experts confirmed they were indeed mosquitoes.

“I knew right away this was something I had never seen before,” Hjaltason told the Icelandic newspaper Morgunblaðið.

Matthías Alfreðsson, an entomologist at the institute, told national broadcaster RÚV that these were the first mosquitoes ever found living in Iceland’s natural environment.

While a lone mosquito had previously been detected on an airplane at Keflavík International Airport, Alfreðsson noted that this is the first verified instance of mosquitoes being discovered in Iceland’s ecosystem — a possible indicator of how climate change is reshaping even the coldest parts of the planet.