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Mosquito have been found in iceland For the first time, scientists say this could be a sign of rapid temperature rise. climate,
Iceland was one of two places in the world considered a pest-free zone, the other being the Antarctic. However, with the warming climate, mosquitoes and other insects are reaching places where they were not normally found before.
three mosquitoes of slide canceled The species was discovered this month in Kjödafell, Kjös, about 30 km north of the capital Reykjavik, according to the Institute of Natural Sciences of Iceland.
The discovery marked the first confirmed presence of mosquitoes in the forests of Iceland, where freezing winters had previously kept them out.
The insects were first spotted by Björn Hjaltason, an amateur naturalist, who posted on a Facebook group for insect lovers about a “strange fly” he caught on a red wine ribbon used to attract moths.
He later sent the specimens – two females and one male – to the Icelandic Institute of Natural History, where they were confirmed to be mosquitoes.
“I could tell immediately that it was something I had never seen before,” he told an Icelandic newspaper. morning paper,
Mattias Alfredsson, an entomologist at the institute told ruvThe national broadcaster reported that mosquitoes were first seen on Icelandic soil.
While a single mosquito had once been found on a plane at Keflavík International Airport, this was the first time mosquitoes had been recorded “in the natural environment of Iceland,” he told CNN.
slide canceled It is a common species of mosquito, found from North Africa to Northern Siberia, and can tolerate temperatures well below zero. Scientists are still unsure how the insects might have reached Iceland, although it is suspected that they came on board a ship or in cargo containers.
While experts caution against linking the finding directly to climate change, Iceland’s environment is warming much faster than the global average. The country is warming at a rate four times faster than the rest of the Northern Hemisphere, with glaciers breaking away and warmer waters introducing new marine species like mackerel.
Mr Alfredsson told CNN that even though this particular species can already tolerate Iceland’s cold, “warmer temperatures will increase the likelihood of other mosquito species becoming established in Iceland if they arrive”.
In recent years mosquitoes have been found increasingly northwards, including in Britain tiger mosquitoWhich is known to spread dengue and Zika, has been detected.