Harmonia axyridis (Pallas, 1773)

Kulijer, Dejan, 2016, Leptoglossus occidentalis (Heteroptera: Coreidae) and Harmonia axyridis (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae), two new invasive alien species for insect fauna of Macedonia, Ecologica Montenegrina 5, pp. 22-25 : 23

Harmonia axyridis (Pallas, 1773)

Dojran Municipality, Nov Dojran, Dojransko Ezero (Dojran Lake ), 41°14'24''N, 22°42'50''E, alt. 167 m a.s.l., 09/VIII/2015, (1 specimen of f. succinea) ;

Kavadarci Municipality, Kavadarci, boarding school building, 41°26'27''N, 22°01'12''E, alt. 253 m a.s.l. (at the light in the evening), 07/VIII/2015, (1 f. spectabilis); 08/VIII/2015, (1 f. succinea) ;

Prilep Municipality, Monastery St. Gjorgji, 41°25'42''N, 21°37'13''E, alt. 1.002 m a.s.l. (at the light in the evening; dead specimens in the window frame), 10/VIII/2015, (9 f. succinea, 1 f. spectabilis) ;

Prilep Municipality, Oreovec , fishpond with streamlet N of village, 41°23'30''N, 21°34'05''E, alt. 861 m a.s.l., 13/VIII/2015, (1 f. spectabilis) ;

Debartsa Municipality, Belčišta, Sini Virovi Swamp, 41°18'35''N, 20°48'43''E, alt. 766 m a.s.l., 14/VIII/2015, (4 f. succinea);

Ohrid Municipality, Ohridsko ezero (Ohrid Lake ), 41°08'02''N, 20°45'50''E, alt. 697 m a.s.l., 14/VIII/2015, (10 f. succinea) ;

Skopje, Butel Municipality (city center), 41°00'02''N, 21°26'06''E, alt. 270 m a.s.l. (on a lime tree), 15/VIII/2015, (2 larvae).

In the countries with low research intensity, as is the case of Macedonia, the possibility that alien species remain undiscovered for long time is significant. This results with the species being discovered at the time when they are already well-established and widespread. At that point it is usually very hard to determine their origin and the time or direction of invasion. As both species already have established populations in neighboring countries, the way of their introduction to Macedonia is probably natural expansion of these populations. The fact that they were easily found during odonatological field study suggests that both species could be widespread and present for some time in Macedonia, particularly H. axyridis that was found at seven locations across the country.