Iceland is no longer among the few places in the world free of mosquitoes. Scientists point to rising temperatures.
Mosquitoes were detected in Iceland for the first time this month, resulting in the country losing its status as one of the only places in the world without them. The findings were confirmed by the country’s national science institute on Monday.
This follows record-breaking heat this past summer, which has sped up the glacial melting in the country.
When were mosquitoes detected in Iceland?
On October 16, insect enthusiast Bjorn Hjaltason posted on a Facebook group Skordýr og Nytjadýr Á Íslandi (Insects in Iceland) that he had spotted mosquitoes in Kidafell, Kjos at dusk that day.
He said he had caught some using a red wine ribbon, a trap using sweetened wine as bait to attract insects. Kjos is a glacial valley around 52km (32 miles) northeast of the Icelandic capital Reykjavik.
Hjaltason sent the mosquitoes to the Natural Science Institute of Iceland, where entomologist Matthias Alfredsson confirmed they were indeed mosquitoes.
Which type of mosquitoes have been found?
Alfredsson identified the mosquitoes
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