ABSTRACT

References ..................................................................................................................................... 220

corn rootworm, Diabrotica virgifera virgifera,4 the Asian long-horned beetles, Anoplophora spp.,5 the Asian tiger mosquito, Aedes albopictus,6 the pine wood nematode, Bursaphelenchus xylophilus,7 or the spectacular spread all over Europe of the horse-chestnut leaf miner, Cameraria ohridella, originating from the southern Balkans,8 caused much public concern. Thus, checklists of alien invertebrates began to be compiled from 2002 onwards, successively covering a number of European countries: Austria,9 Germany,10 the Netherlands,11 the Czech Republic,12 Scandinavia,13 the United Kingdom,14,15 Italy,16 Serbia and Montenegro,17 Switzerland,18 Albania, Bulgaria, and Macedonia,19 and Hungary.20 However, aliens are not respecting political barriers all the more, as the weakening customs and quarantine controls within the European Union (EU) may allow species to spread easily between EU countries once they are successfully established.21 This situation has triggered the need for a continental survey of the already established alien invertebrate species.