Mediterranean HouseGecko, <i>Hemidactylus turcicus</i> (Reptilia: Gekkonidae), has established urbanpopulations in Central Europe

The Mediterranean house gecko inhabits the Mediterranean region of Southern Europe, Northern Africa, and Western Asia, but has been introduced in Northern America, in the United States and Mexico in 2015 and 2016. The species has been reported in 2014 in Serbia and then again from 2020 to 2022 in the same country. Here, we report more scattered findings from Romania and Central Europe: Croatia, Austria, Slovenia, Czechia and Hungary, from 2013 to 2025. In Zagreb, Croatia, the species has a small population established, as continuous records exist from 2013 till today in numerous localities, and with specimens observed throughout the year. On the other hand, records from continental Austria and Romania are known to be recently imported specimens.