For the first time ever, mosquitoes have been seen in Iceland after a very warm spring. Normally, Iceland is too cold and lacks standing water for mosquitoes to live, making it one of only two places in the world where they are not found, the other being Antarctica.
Insect enthusiast Bjorn Hjaltason made this discovery while looking at moths in a valley near Reykjavik. Over a few nights, he found two female mosquitoes and one male. Experts confirmed they are a type called Culiseta annulata, which can survive cold winters.
Hjaltason shared his find on Facebook, saying it felt like "the last fortress seems to have fallen."
This year, Iceland had record heat, with temperatures above 20°C (68°F) for ten days in May, compared to the usual two or three days. The hottest day reached 26.6°C (79.8°F).
Entomologist Matthías Alfreðsson, who confirmed the mosquito type, said it's common in Europe and North Africa, but it's still a mystery how they got to Iceland. He said that more monitoring is needed next spring to see if they will stay.
Iceland is warming rapidly
Iceland is warming, at four times the rate of the rest of the northern hemisphere. Glaciers have been collapsing and fish from warmer, southern climes such as mackerel have been found in the country’s waters.
As the planet warms, more species of mosquito have been found across the globe. In the UK, eggs of the Egyptian mosquito (Aedes aegypti) were found this year, and the Asian tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus) has been discovered in Kent. These are invasive species that can spread tropical diseases such as dengue, chikungunya and Zika virus.