Iceland was mosquito free before and I missed it???
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Hope we can find some ways to get rid of these fuckers, they really are getting worse everywhere I’ve realized.
I’m not in favor of eradicating them from wild areas but there’s no reason they need to be in cities.
I don't understand how a flying insect can be kept out of an area. Do you have a strategy in mind?
It's not completely possible but if you could create a situation where mortality is so high or reproduction is impossible for them, you could keep populations very low even if some wander in.
They have genetically modified mosquitoes that cause sterility in the ones they mate with, which have been used successfully to greatly reduce the population of the species in question. So this is the best existing technology IMO but it probably will require a confluence of techniques.
But care should be taken that it doesn't harm non-target organisms and doesn't spread out of control.
I think that would wipe out the target species if it were effective. I know they have GMO mosquitoes whose bodies will kill particular pathogens rather than spread them, and I feel like that's a safer idea. But maybe the species which target humans aren't ecologically important; I don't really know.
It only wipes them out in the area of release. Because they’re sterile, they can’t spread to other regions.
From what I’ve seen they’ve only been used on introduced mosquito species which are less likely to have much impact on native ecosystems anyway. Most of the mosquitoes that live in cities are introduced cosmopolitan species.
We got saints out here infecting mosquitos with strerility bless them
Don't you maybe think that humans eradicating shit in favour of cities is part of the whole dang pawblem we're facing?? 🤪
For sure. That’s why we need to densify our cities to stop them from expanding. But that’s a separate question from whether it’s worth it to have mosquitoes in existing cities. I don’t think it is but if you have an argument for it go ahead.
But the vast majority of urban mosquitoes are introduced species anyway.
And eradicating mosquitoes is going to help with that how exactly?
Improved human health and well-being in cities certainly couldn’t hurt. But it’s not really meant to be part of that strategy. It’s more to prevent human suffering and death from disease.
human suffering
Right, so we should also eradicate all human predators to prevent human suffering at all, yeah?
death from disease
Malaria (and other diseases) can be eliminated. If you're in a western country, when is the last time you heard of someone (in your country) having it? Did they travel recently before* the infection?
We have West Nile that can kill people, and many other dangerous mosquito borne illnesses are expanding.
Predators have other effective methods to prevent them from killing people.
But I mean I don’t really think it would be appropriate to have lions in major cities either, so you? Unless measures could be developed to coexist and keep people safe.
If you’re really passionate about mosquitoes existing in cities for some reason and can develop alternatives that keep people safe then go for it. But despite decades of work on this topic, we’re not there yet and killing mosquitoes remains an important part of disease control in most parts of the world. The way Malaria was eliminated from large regions in the first place was through widespread poisoning of mosquitoes, so that example really doesn’t help your case.
killing mosquitoes remains an important part of disease control in most parts of the world.
Which was done without fully studying the ecological impacts. There are studies coming out now showing there are many impacts from doing this.
Edit:
can develop alternatives that keep people safe then go for it.
Permethrin, diethyltoluamide, citronella, bug zappers and mosquito nets already exist and can help you control their presence both on your person and in a localised area.
Most mosquito-borne illnesses are caused by a small subset of specific species of mosquito. There are only a few that cause malaria, for example. Past eradication methods, such as blanketing areas in insecticides, killed mosquitos indiscriminately, even the ones that don't carry diseases (as well as other insects). This had consequences on the rest of the food chain. Humans have tried to eradicate many species to the detriment of ecosystems. Whether that's wolves causing deer populations to explode, dingoes causing the same for kangaroos, or cane toads being brought in to control cane beetles. We just do not have a good track record of trying to eradicate species for our own benefit, because ecosystems are far more complex than we actually understand. For example, did you know that mosquitoes are pollinators?
A far better method for controlling mosquitos in cities would be to aid in the reintroduction, protection and support of their natural predators. Those would include bats, birds and spiders, as well as lizards and amphibians in some regions. Part of that would also include the eradication of invasive species that outcompete local species, but have differing diets.
Here's some links though:
https://cordis.europa.eu/article/id/449267-should-we-eradicate-mosquitoes
https://tepapa.govt.nz/discover-collections/read-watch-play/new-zealand-mosquito-census/mosquito-facts/can-we-just
https://www.newscientist.com/lastword/mg25233643-900-if-mosquitoes-were-eradicated-what-would-be-the-consequences/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK585176/
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6378608/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK585188/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK585164/
I weridly pick my own species over others anytime
Yeah, and that's the whole pawblem with the human race.
Welcome to hell, Icelanders!
Hell arrived a while ago and it is summer on Lake Myvatn, or Midge Lake. You can't breathe without inhaling insects, so you have to wear a mask just in case a cloud of those things happen your way.
Yeah, we went to Iceland ~3 years ago and we learned beforehand to bring a mosquito net for Lake Myvatn. So this headline confuses me. The article says mosquitoes were only discovered there this month, but some random blog knew about it years ago?
There are biting midges, and I presume they're very annoying, but most don't bite and they're all different from mosquitoes.
Ah, yeah I saw a lot of insects that I presumed were mosquitoes... do they look similar?
The only annoying insects I've seen in Iceland, when visiting Goðafoss I think, seemed a good bit larger than mosquitoes. Not sure if those are midges or some other insect.
How is that pronounced???

I'm not a linguist nor am I Icelandic. However, when visiting I did notice that the language has this "Eth" (Ð ð) letter and [the "Thorn" Þ þ letter.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thorn_(letter%29).
My simple, English-based understanding is that they represent two variations of the English "th" sound. Eth is voiced, softer, and similar to the "th" in "the" or "father" and Thorn is unvoiced, harsher, and similar to the "th" sound in its name "thorn" or "thank". It's subtle and I never remember learning about the differences in my schooling.
I've also noticed there is a small "movement", here and a few other sites online, to try and bring one or both of these back, replacing "th" with one or both these characters in English posts and comments.
Edit: Pronouncing the actual name of the waterfall, the Wikipedia page has a playable pronunciation that sounds to me like "go the foss" which matches an English pronunciation of just replacing Eth with TH, but that's just an approximation.
Neat! Thanks for sharing. I knew about the thorn and then saw on the wiki the "Icelandic pronunciation: [ˈkɔːðaˌfɔsːft]" and my brain kinda shut off lol.
Wasn't y also a th character back in "ye olde" times for example?
English is weird.
Yeah, I wish I'd known what that translated to before I went there.
At least they seemed to stay away from the thermal baths area.
Genetic engineer your way out. The studies all agree it's fine, gene drive the mosquitoes extinct.
Great job, humans. You’ve ruined Iceland.
Since we all know Global Warming is a hoax, obviously those mosquitoes were smuggled into Iceland by Antifa.
For some time the propaganda has been that global warming is real, but not caused my human activity. It's a natural and unavoidable cycle.
Asked a guy at work, "OK, but 10-years ago is was called fake, wasn't happening. What changed?"
Forget his answer, but remember him being taken aback for a minute.
Yep I'm British and I've lost count of how many times a denier has said "no cos we used to grow grapes in England"
What's that supposed to mean? That it used to be warmer? Get ready for the AMOC to shut down, you for sure won't be growing grapes.
Record snowfall for Florida in my town last winter. Direct result of global warming.
antifa also made lots of tiny jackets for the mosquitos so they could survive the cold
Ugh, that sucks for those people. Mosquitoes truly are the spawn of Trump.
How'd they get there? Human activity or somehow carried by weather maybe?
Any number of places. It could have been a stowaway in luggage, imported livestock, etc.
Yeah, probably this. And the increase in temperature simply made the conditions bearable when they got outside.
Could they have also maybe just.. flown over there? Insect migrations like this can happen, but I don't think it's possible on such a scale, even for mosquitoes.
Sand from Sahara in Africa is sometimes carried by wind and rains down in Scandinavia and even South America.
Fish eggs have landed in tree tops in the Amazon and what not.
I'm sure a mosquito or their eggs could ride the wind to Iceland as well.
Ah, fair enough. To be fair a good couple of spider species were able to cross continents via ballooning, so now that I think about it, mosquitoes doing just as well isn't too far fetched.
They probably flew.
Every day animals are adjusting their habits and habitats based on the changing environment.
Interesting.
Cold is going to be a commodity in the coming decades.
followed by some cataclisms, then ice age.
don't quote me on that
Don't worry, if you're right you'll be dead. And if you're wrong you'll get to live. Truly a win win.
Damn it! We only have a few places of refuge!
I doubt it's the harsh weather that prevents mosquitos. They probably just never made it to the island before and now made it on a plane or boat finally.
In Canada you'll find hellish mosquitos up in the Arctic circle which has a much colder climates than Iceland I believe.
Annihilate them. They’re an invasive species.
https://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/genetically-modified-mosquitoes
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