Geographical distribution of invasive insect species in Albania

Abstract

Albania, just like every other country in the world, has been threatened by invasive species for years now. Although most of the invasive species have not a big impact in environment and economy of the country where they are introduced, some “good” introduced species at the beginning can turn to harmful invaders. Unlike most other pollutants, the effects of biological invaders are likely to increase through time as existing populations expand, even ifnew introductions are halted. Physical and geographical traits of Albania, such as habitat fragmentation, long coastline withmany harbors, facilitate the successful introduction of harmful invasive insect species. The aim of our work was to study thegeographical distribution, time and sites of introduction of invasive insects in Albania. Sampling expeditions were organized in13 cities belonging to 4 regions (south, north, west, east region) in Albania. During 2009-2010 we collected 478 individualsbelonging to 5 insects orders, 15 families and 21 species. Individuals collected are classified as below: oder Lepidoptera, 5families, 8 species; order Coleoptera, 4 families, 6 species; order Homoptera, 3 families, 4 species; order Diptera, 2 families, 2species; order Prostigmata, 1 family, 1 specie. Many of these invasive insects are found from us in territories far away fromintroduction site.

Keywords

• insects
• invasive insects
• Albania
• invasion
• impact
• biodiversity