In August-October 1979, infestations of the mosquito Aedes albopictus were discovered at a number of widely separated sites in Albania. Used tires were the principal larval habitat. The species was probably introduced from China in the mid-1970s. The initial infestation was probably at a rubber factory adjacent to the port of Durres (Durazzo), from where the mosquito was shipped in tires to recapping plants in other parts of the country. This is the first recorded infestation of Ae. albopictus outside Oriental and Australasian regions.