After Italy and Switzerland, the Japanese beetle risks attacking French crops. ANSES is worried!
ANSES, the National Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health Safety, is sounding the alarm. The Japanese beetle risk of attacking French plantations, ANSES therefore considers it a real threat to be taken very seriously. You should know that this insect causes carnage in the plantations where it passes. The Japanese beetle devours flowers, leaves and fruits! The most dangerous is that it generally operates in groups, enough to destroy an entire culture.
Note that the Japanese beetle larvae like to attack roots directly. Among its victims are plum trees, apple trees, vines, corn, soybeans, beans, asparagus, maple, poplars and even roses are not lost on it. This insect has already taken ground in Italy and Switzerland, for the moment France has been spared, but until when? “This insect pest poses a threat to hundreds of plant species. To have a chance of eradicating it from the territory, it will be necessary to intervene as soon as the insect is first detected.” says the agency on its official website.
Japanese beetle is getting dangerously close
The Japanese beetle can be distinguished from other beetles by itson green and brown body with small tufts of white hairs. It spread outside its country of origin, which is Japan, to the United States first, before arriving in Europe. It was in 2014 that it was spotted for the first time in our Italian neighbours. He entered Switzerland 3 years later, in 2017. ”For the moment it has not yet been detected in France, but there is no reason for it not to enter the territory” explains ANSES’s scientific coordinator, Christine Tayeh. “According to the results of the expert appraisal, there is nothing to prevent its establishment in France either: it is an insect that moves easily, the temperature and precipitation conditions are favorable to it and since it can consume many species of plants present on French territory, it will have no difficulty in finding sources of food.” she specifies. The agency therefore calls for the greatest vigilance. ANSES insists that once the Japanese beetle is detected on the territory, it kill it with insecticides and other biological products. The states of Oregon and California, in the United States, have also managed to get rid of it and prevent the installation of the species on their territory.