The mosquitoes’ adjustment to coexisting with humans commenced well before the Industrial Revolution. This conclusion was reached by an international consortium of scientists, which included investigators from the Institute of Cytology and Genetics of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. According to announcements from the IC&G, genomic sequencing revealed that the so-called London Underground mosquito, Culex pipiens form molestus, did not originate in the urban subterranean networks of the 19th and 20th centuries, as previously assumed, but much earlier—more than a millennium ago.
According to the research findings, the divergence of this specific form from the bird-feeding Culex pipiens form pipiens occurred sometime between one and ten thousand years ago, likely originating in the Mediterranean region or the Near East. Initially, these mosquitoes adapted to inhabiting densely populated settlements and feeding on humans; only subsequently, with the expansion of underground infrastructure, did they rapidly colonize basements, storage areas, and subway systems.
These outcomes stem from the comprehensive genomic analysis of approximately 350 current and historical specimens sourced from 77 populations across Europe, North Africa, and Western Asia. The researchers emphasized that the subterranean existence adopted by these mosquitoes is a result of ancient evolutionary adaptation, rather than a swift evolutionary response to the conditions found in contemporary urban environments.
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