Invasion in Iceland!

Residents of Iceland are bugging out over the news. Scientists recently confirmed the first-ever sighting of wild mosquitoes in the Arctic country.

This past fall, a local man noticed three unusual insects on a farm just north of Reykjavík, Iceland’s capital. Experts at the Natural Science Institute of Iceland determined that the insects were a type of mosquito called Culiseta annulata, which is found in parts of Europe and other continents.

A number of insect species have made their way to Iceland in recent years. Scientists say the trend is partly due to an increase in international travelers. Visitors may unknowingly bring the critters with them in airplanes or on cruise ships.

Climate change may also be at play. Most mosquitoes can’t survive in very cold temperatures. But the Arctic region is warming at more than double the rate of the global average, and experts say that may be making Iceland more hospitable to bugs.

This discovery now leaves Antarctica as the only place in the world believed to be mosquito-free. Bart Knols, a mosquito expert, predicts more unusual insect spottings as the world warms. 

“We should not be surprised,” he told reporters, “that we see mosquitoes popping up in very strange localities."

—Brooke Ross