Although it is likely that the horse chestnut leaf miner Cameraria ohridella (Lepidoptera: Gracillaridae)entered France in the course of 1998, its first observation was recorded near Paris in 2000. The rapid spread of the leafminer throughout Europe suggested that the country would be quickly invaded, and surveys were carried out in 2001, 2002 and 2003 to follow its nationwide spread. Surveys aiming at detecting the presence of the pest by visual observation of leaf damages were carried out in late summer/early autumn in the centre and East of the country in 2001, whereas they were extended to the West in 2002 and 2003. The pattern of spread derived from the spatial analysis of these data is compared to the pattern of spread already described for Germany in term of spread rate and possible relationship with human population density.