Many people believe that the bird's frequent ventures to lower elevations were its undoing, possibly due to a low elevation avian disease. An invasive species of mosquito, the possible disease vector which led to demise of the ʻakialoa, was first introduced via whaling ships in 1826. The insects tended to prefer low elevation, moist environments, and seasonally warm temperatures, which is the conditions in which ʻakialoa birds were found. These mosquitoes were carrying a type of malaria which infected and killed a majority of the ʻakialoa birds, thus beginning the slow demise of the species, as well as many other Hawaiian species.