Aedes albopictus was discovered in Los Angeles, California, in June 2001 in a maritime cargocontainer from China containing a shipment of a commercial plant product known as "Lucky Bamboo" (Dracaenaspp.). To keep the plants alive during the ocean transit, they were shipped in 5-8 cm of water,providing an excellent habitat for Ae. albopictus. Mosquito infestations were subsequently detected at 15 nursery distributorsof Dracaena in 2 northem and 4 southern California counties. The distribution of the Ae. albopictusinfestations was limited to the vicinity of those nursery distributors with documented infestations. Infestationspersisted for more than 5 months near some of the nurseries, and eggs were found in ovitraps until mid-November2001 up to 1,000 m from the original infestation sites. Overwinteing Ae. albopictus populations were discoveredin April, July, and August 2002 at original infestation sites in Chino, San Bernardino County, and MontereyPark and Rowland Heights, Los Angeles County, respectively. Specimens were found at some sites of overwinteringpopulations until October 2002.