French mayor bans mosquitoes from flying over his commune

Mosquitoes may not be able to read but it has not stopped a French mayor from issuing a municipal order to prohibit them flying over his commune. 

Olivier Joly, mayor of Saint-Just-Saint-Rambert in the Loire department, signed the unusual order on September 1. 

“Faced with a growing number of reports from residents about the proliferation of tiger mosquitoes, Olivier Joly, mayor of Saint-Just-Saint-Rambert, has just issued a municipal order banning them from flying over the commune,” the municipality said in its announcement. 

The order prohibits tiger mosquitoes (Aedes albopictus) from flying over the entire commune “day and night”.

It covers streets, squares, public gardens and parks, waterways and public buildings, the entire municipal territory in fact.

It states that tiger mosquitoes’ “repeated, low or circular flights” and their bites can cause “annoyance and exasperation” while adding that any tiger mosquito failing to comply with the order “will be subject to prosecution”.

There is, however, a practical difficulty: the town has not yet managed to enforce the ban.

“At this stage, no mosquito has been arrested or fined,” Mr Joly said to AFP.

A serious problem behind the joke

However lighthearted the municipal order, the commune’s mosquito-control programme is serious.

The municipality said Saint-Just-Saint-Rambert is among the hundreds of communes in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region colonised by tiger mosquitoes.

The species can transmit viruses including dengue, chikungunya and Zika. 

However, because the insect usually stays within around 150m of where it was born, eliminating breeding sites close to homes can make a significant difference.

The commune has already installed eight mosquito traps in pilot areas, including four larger autonomous traps designed for public spaces. These use attractants including CO₂ and pheromones to lure and capture mosquitoes over an area of more than 3,000m².

The municipality is also encouraging natural predators by installing bat roosts and bird nesting boxes, both of which feed on the mosquitoes.

The mairie said 250 kits containing bat roosts and bird boxes have also been distributed to willing residents.

Residents are being asked to do their part

The municipal order also sets out a series of practical measures for residents.

People are encouraged to remove or tightly cover anything that can collect stagnant water, including buckets, watering cans, flowerpot saucers and old tyres.

They are also asked to keep gutters, drains and channels clear, and to cover or treat unused swimming pools and ponds.

The mairie’s advice is based on the fact that tiger mosquitoes can breed in remarkably small quantities of stagnant water. Even a small container left outdoors can provide a breeding site.

For now, the tiger mosquitoes of Saint-Just-Saint-Rambert remain at large. More than that, according to a 2026 study published in the journal Global Change Biology, under a worst case scenario, 89–96% of France could have climatic conditions suitable for the establishment of Aedes albopictus by 2085, with mountain ranges the main exception.