The species is widespread in the eastern half of the UAE and is also present on offshore islands (Jongbloed et al. 2003). The species has not been found in the Ru'us al-Jibal, however, it may exist in the mountains (Feulner 2011). Al Mehairbi et al. (2019) show a much broader and more continuous distribution, extending west well into Abu Dhabi Emirate. The species is considered introduced to the UAE by MoCCaE (O. Al Shamsi pers. comm. 2019) and by Al Mehairbi et al. (2019). The species is widely distributed across the globe (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019). It is found in south-east Europe, North Africa, Macaronesia, the western Indian Ocean, Asia (Arabia, China, India, Indochina, Malaysia, and Papua New Guinea). It is considered to be introduced to Australia, the Pacific, and the Americas (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019). The native distribution of this species is uncertain, although it is considered native to Africa (Heuzé et al. 2015) and perhaps the Near East.