New Delhi, October 21 (IANS). The effects of rapidly changing weather and climate change are also visible on Iceland. This is the first time that mosquitoes have been found here. Not two but three mosquitoes!
Mosquitoes have been found in Iceland for the first time due to global warming. It is clear that the environment here has now become favorable for them. Until this month, the country was one of the few places in the world where there was no mosquito population. The second place belongs to Antarctica.
Entomologist Mathias Alfredsson of the Natural Sciences Institute of Iceland confirmed this. He himself identified the sample sent by the local scientist. “Three specimens of Culiseta annulata, two females and one male, were found in Kidafell, Kazos. All of them were collected from vine ropes,” he said.
This species is cold-hardy and can survive in Icelandic conditions by taking shelter in cellars and barns in winter.
A man named Björn Hjaltsson posted pictures of the mosquitoes on the Facebook group “Insects in Iceland”. “On the evening of October 16, my eye noticed a strange insect on a red wine ribbon (a net used to attract mosquitoes),” Beaunar said. He added, “I immediately became suspicious of what was happening and quickly picked her up. She was a female.”
He caught two more insects and sent them to the Science Institute.
Scientists had also predicted some time ago that mosquitoes could flourish in Iceland because of suitable breeding environments such as swamps and ponds. However, it is also recognized that many species will not be able to survive in the harsh climate.
The Global Heat Health Information Network published a report in June 2025 according to which Iceland is warming four times faster than the rest of the Northern Hemisphere. Glaciers are breaking up and fish like mackerel, which are usually found in warm climate areas, have been found in the country’s waters.
–IANS
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