<p>When and how did mosquitoes reach Australia?</p>
<p>It's east of the Wallace line, so 'they got there from Asia' is not an obviously unproblematic conclusion.</p>
<p>In general, when and how mosquitoes reached remote Pacific islands is a nontrivial question. For example, Hawaii was free of them until historically recent time when they stowed away on a ship.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/news/2013/07/24/study-finds-introduced-mosquito-species-active-all-year-round.html" rel="noreferrer">Study finds introduced mosquito species active all year round</a> suggests one particular mosquito species only reached Australia during World War II, but also says</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Australia has plenty of 'home grown' mosquitoes</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Which indicates that other species have been there much longer.</p>
<p>Did they reach Australia at the same time as the marsupials, tens of millions of years ago when the continent was closer to Asia?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-04-30T23:27:25.753Z
Mosquitoes in Australia....[Obligatory Monty Python reference](https://youtu.be/BHBbJAIcnBI).
Spencer
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-05-03T04:15:24.410Z
@Spencer: [Beauty](https://outbackdictionary.com/beaut-beauty/) [cobber](https://outbackdictionary.com/cobber/), what a [rip snorter](https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/rip+snorter)
Fred
<earth-history><paleontology><ecology><geobiology>
When did mosquitoes reach Australia?
rwallace
# When did mosquitoes reach Australia?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2022-04-24)

When and how did mosquitoes reach Australia?

It's east of the Wallace line, so 'they got there from Asia' is not an obviously unproblematic conclusion.

In general, when and how mosquitoes reached remote Pacific islands is a nontrivial question. For example, Hawaii was free of them until historically recent time when they stowed away on a ship.

[Study finds introduced mosquito species active all year round](https://www.sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/news/2013/07/24/study-finds-introduced-mosquito-species-active-all-year-round.html) suggests one particular mosquito species only reached Australia during World War II, but also says

> Australia has plenty of 'home grown' mosquitoes

Which indicates that other species have been there much longer.

Did they reach Australia at the same time as the marsupials, tens of millions of years ago when the continent was closer to Asia?

**Tags:** earth-history, paleontology, ecology, geobiology

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Mosquitoes in Australia....[Obligatory Monty Python reference](https://youtu.be/BHBbJAIcnBI).  
> **username_2**: @username_1: [Beauty](https://outbackdictionary.com/beaut-beauty/) [cobber](https://outbackdictionary.com/cobber/), what a [rip snorter](https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/rip+snorter)  

---

## 0 answers

