Topic: Identification of factors promoting the natural control of pest arthropods by their natural enemies.
Dates: 15 February 2023 – 14 August 2025
CBGP managers: A. Cruaud & J.Y. Rasplus

Jean-Baptiste has been recruited as a research assistant on the ANR NGS-OLICIT project, which aims to identify the factors (environment, practices, and the species and functional diversity of beneficial insects) that promote the natural control of insect pests by their natural enemies on Citrus and Olea in Corsica and on the mainland. The identification and counting of insects across the plot networks and in their environment will be carried out using metabarcoding and AI-based image recognition, by comparison with databases annotated by taxonomists.

Jean-Baptiste will be responsible for developing the AI that will enable the recognition of images of trap contents. Ultimately, the aim is to produce a smartphone app that will use images captured in the field to identify target insects (pests, parasitoids and predators). In addition, Jean-Baptiste will work on developing a natural regulation score based on the analysed factors, to help farmers understand natural regulation and to identify ways to improve it, thereby reducing the use of pesticide inputs.