Has Iceland’s cold barrier against mosquitoes cracked?

Iceland sees mosquitoes for first time

For the first time, mosquitoes have been recorded in Iceland following an unusually hot spring, a discovery that raises questions about the impact of climate change.

Insect enthusiast Bjorn Hjaltason spotted the insects over several nights last week while using wine-soaked ropes to attract moths, BBC reported.

Iceland’s historically harsh winters have long kept mosquitoes at bay, but that may be changing. Scientists confirmed the discovery of three mosquitoes this week — marking the first verified sighting of the species in the wild.

Globally, mosquitoes are found nearly everywhere, with Antarctica and, until now, Iceland, as the only exceptions due to extreme cold.

In a Facebook post, Hjaltason said the mosquitoes, found in Kjós, a glacial valley southwest of Reykjavik, included two females and one male. They were later identified as Culiseta annulata, one of the few species capable of surviving Icelandic winters.

“At dusk on October 16, I caught sight of a strange fly. I could tell right away that this was something I had never seen before,” Hjaltason wrote, adding, “the last fortress seems to have fallen.”

He sent the insects to the Icelandic Institute of Natural History for identification, where entomologist Matthías Alfreðsson confirmed the species. Alfreðsson told CNN that Culiseta annulata is commonly found across Europe and North Africa, though how the mosquitoes reached Iceland remains unknown.

According to the World Population Review, Iceland’s traditionally cold climate and scarcity of stagnant water prevented mosquitoes from establishing populations, leaving it one of the few mosquito-free regions outside Antarctica.

This year, Iceland recorded its hottest day ever in May, when temperatures reached 26.6°C (79.8°F) at Egilsstaðir Airport — conditions that may have allowed the resilient mosquitoes to finally survive and thrive.