Stowaway mosquitoes threaten Galapagos wildlife

Description

Land iguanas are seen at the Galapagos National Park on Santa Cruz Island September 15, 2008.

Photograph by: Guillermo Granja, Reuters

LONDON – The unique wildlife of the Galapagos Islands is under threat from disease-carrying mosquitoes arriving on board growing numbers of aircraft and tourist boats, researchers said on Wednesday.

Experts fear the spread of the southern house mosquito, or Culex quinquefasciatus, could have the same devastating effect in the Galapagos as in Hawaii during the late 19th century, when disease wiped out many indigenous birds.

The mosquito was first spotted in the Galapagos in the mid-1980s, but its presence then was considered a one-off.

Now research by British and Ecuadorean scientists has found the insects are, in fact, transported regularly by ...

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