Mosquitoes discovered in Iceland for the first time

Cold survival and mosquito biology

• Several commenters are surprised mosquitoes can exist in places like Alaska or Siberia given extreme cold.
• Others explain overwintering strategies: many species survive as eggs, often protected by cryoprotectants like glycerol.
• Insects are noted as highly resilient (e.g., radioresistance) with fast breeding cycles that enable rapid adaptation.

How mosquitoes likely reached Iceland

• Consensus is that introduction is almost certainly human-mediated: ships, containers, stagnant water in tires, or possibly birds carrying insects/eggs.
• Debate over how many individuals are needed to found a population: some claim it’s unlikely enough arrive together and survive; others argue a single small water reservoir on a ship can contain dozens of larvae, making arrival common.
• One commenter points out that this may not be the first arrival, only the first time conditions allowed survival and detection.

Iceland’s climate and existing insects

• Multiple comments stress Iceland isn’t as frigid as many imagine, but is very windy, glaciated in parts, and more a “black stony desert” than a green island.
• People clarify that Iceland has long had gnats, midges, and flies; “no mosquitoes” never meant “no biting insects.”
• Biting midges are said to have appeared only in the last decade, suggesting recent shifts in insect fauna.

Comparisons with other cold regions

• Commenters note intense mosquito seasons in Greenland, Siberia, Alaska, northern Canada, and interior British Columbia, despite winter temperatures far below Iceland’s.
• Descriptions include swarms dense enough to be inhaled, livestock stressed or even suffocated, and local jokes like “Alaska state bird.”
• This leads some to argue that Iceland’s historical lack of mosquitoes must be due to factors other than just cold.

Climate change and expanding ranges

• One thread ties the Iceland finding to global warming (“+2°C”), arguing warmer winters let mosquitoes persist where they previously died out.
• A counterargument claims that since cold-adapted species already exist, warming isn’t needed for colonization; what’s changing is overwinter survival and season length, not the basic ability to travel.

Nuisance, disease, and eradication ideas

• Many express intense dislike of mosquitoes and fantasize about global eradication, sometimes bundling them with ticks, fleas, or jellyfish and snakes.
• Others push back, citing ecological roles (prey for birds, bats, etc.), though one link suggests mosquitoes may not be a critical food source.
• More targeted ideas include eliminating only disease-vector species or using Wolbachia to block pathogen transmission.
• One commenter proposes Iceland’s isolation could make it a testbed for gene-drive–based eradication, though this is not further explored.