Pest control in Roubion

Built environment and local building types

A small mountain village, Roubion is made up of old farmsteads and tightly packed stone houses, with vaulted cellars and traditional farm outbuildings. Trap-cellars inherited from local practice, attics and lofts offer cool, dark spaces, while old timber roof frames and floors form the preferred substrate for wood-boring insects. The low density, the alternation of occupied dwellings and second homes closed part of the year, and the immediate proximity of forest expose the buildings to wildlife, including some protected species governed by wildlife regulations.

Seasonal pressures and sentinel species in Roubion

Bats, protected species, roost in cool lofts and cellars during their summer breeding; any action is carried out in compliance with wildlife regulations, through gentle exclusion outside sensitive periods. Wood-boring insects, house longhorn beetle (Hylotrupes bajulus) and furniture beetle (Anobium punctatum), degrade old roof frames and beams, with adults emerging in the warm season. The wood mouse (Apodemus sylvaticus) and the black rat (Rattus rattus) reach cellars and stores in autumn, in search of warmth and stored food.