Iceland, long celebrated as one of the few mosquito-free places on Earth, has lost that distinction. Scientists have confirmed the presence of mosquitoes in the island nation for the first time, marking yet another visible consequence of a rapidly warming planet.

The discovery was made earlier this month by local insect enthusiast Bjrn Hjaltason, who stumbled upon what he first described as “a strange fly on a red wine ribbon” while observing moths in the glacial valley of Kjos, just northwest of Reykjavik.

“I could tell right away that this was something I had never seen before,” Hjaltason told an Icelandic daily, Morgunbladid, adding with a touch of humour, “the last fortress seems to have fallen.”

Hjaltason collected three specimens — two females and one male — and sent them to the I

See Full Page