Mosquitoes appear for the first time in Iceland: NPR

Icelanders may be the last group of people on Earth to suffer the pesky mosquito bite.

This week, Iceland recorded the presence of insects on its territory for the first time in the Nordic nation’s history.

The discovery of three Culiseta annulata The presence of mosquitoes was confirmed Monday by the Icelandic Institute of Natural Sciences, which said the mosquitoes had likely arrived by cargo and appeared capable of withstanding Iceland’s climate. (Mosquitoes have previously been reported on planes in Iceland.)

The institute noted that mosquitoes were among a number of new insect species discovered in Iceland in recent years due to global warming and growth in international transportation.

Insect enthusiast Björn Hjaltason said he found the mosquitoes on a farm in Kjós, just north of Reykjavík, earlier this month.

“At dusk in the evening of October 16, I saw a strange fly on a ribbon of red wine,” Hjaltason told Icelandic TV channel RUV. “I immediately suspected what was happening and quickly retrieved the fly. It was a female.”

Hjaltason then trapped two more. The three insects were handed over to authorities for testing, which revealed that they were two female mosquitoes and one male.

Antarctica is now the only place in the world believed to be mosquito-free.

Climate change is causing temperatures to rise around the world, and the Arctic region is warming at a rate more than twice the global average.

According to the Icelandic Institute of Natural Sciences, the species Culiseta annulata are large mosquitoes found in Europe and other Nordic countries that can live in cold weather and usually find shelter in outbuildings and basements.

Although they bite, the institute said they do not carry known infections in these areas. A 2017 study said Culiseta annulata are often “regarded as a biting nuisance rather than a deadly enemy.”

There are more than 3,000 species of mosquitoes in the world, some of which can transmit serious and even fatal diseases, such as malaria, dengue fever and West Nile virus, through their bites.