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The Japanese beetle has already been in Italy and Switzerland for several years, and there is a high probability that it will enter France. This insect pest poses a threat to hundreds of plant species. To have any chance of eradicating it from our country, action must be taken as soon as the insect is first detected.

As part of the national plan to combat Lyme disease and other tick-borne diseases, INRAE and VetAgro Sup, as well as CIRAD, ANSES and the company Boehringer Ingelheim, analysed the risks associated with the tick Ixodes ricinus , the main pathogen vector in France and Europe. The research team used data collected in seven observatories characterised by various climates in metropolitan France; it also referred to meteorological and environmental (vegetation, soil, etc.) data. This was supplemented by additional field observation campaigns. The results, published in Geospatial Health and Scientific Reports, led to the development of a map indicating those areas most favourable to the presence and activity of Ixodes ricinus ticks, on the one hand, and a model for predicting the periods of greatest risk depending on the season and weather in metropolitan France, on the other.