Genetic and behavioural evidence for a city‐wide supercolony of the invasive Argentine ant <i>Linepithema humile</i> (Mayr) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in southeastern Australia

Suhr, Elissa L.; McKechnie, Stephen William; O'Dowd, Dennis Jefferie

doi:10.1111/j.1440-6055.2008.00688.x

Cited by 18 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 28 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…In contrast, many supercolonies of other invasive ants such as the L. humile show little or no intracolonial genetic or behavioural differentiation (Giraud et al, 2002;Tsutsui et al, 2003;Corin et al, 2007;Suhr et al, 2009), even in supercolonies that span multiple continents (van Wilgenburg et al, 2010). In most tests, we found higher genetic differ-entiation between distant sites and higher aggression scores between sites than within sites.…”

Section: Divergence Of Anoplolepis Gracilipes In Arnhem Landcontrasting

confidence: 51%

Recent behavioural and population genetic divergence of an invasive ant in a novel environment

Gruber

Hoffmann

Ritchie

et al. 2011

Diversity and Distributions

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Aim Invasive species frequently exhibit high temporal and spatial variation in abundance. Although ecological aspects undoubtedly affect this variation, genetic factors may also play a part. The invasive unicolonial yellow crazy ant Anoplolepis gracilipes exhibits considerable variation in abundance throughout its extensive distribution in Australia's Northern Territory, where it was first detected in the 1980s. First, we aimed to determine whether A. gracilipes variation in abundance was associated with behavioural and genetic differentiation of the population and to determine whether one or more introductions occurred. Second, we investigated whether the A. gracilipes population was genetically and behaviourally heterogeneous to determine whether population divergence has occurred since introduction.Location Tropical monsoonal savanna in Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia.Methods Ant abundances were assessed at 13 sites throughout the study region. We used mitochondrial DNA sequences and microsatellite molecular markers to determine population genetic structure, which we correlated with abundance. Behavioural differentiation was assayed using aggression trials and analysed together with genetic data to investigate population divergence. ResultsAlthough we found considerable variation in abundance, we found no association between population structure and differences in abundance. Our analyses suggest that A. gracilipes ants in Arnhem Land resulted from a single introduction. The population is not homogeneous, however, as aggression scores varied over both genetic and geographic distance. We also found a positive relationship between genetic and geographic distance.Main conclusions The variation in abundance in the Arnhem Land population of A. gracilipes is clearly not owing to invasion by ants from different sources. The genetic and behavioural differentiation we observed is suggestive of incipient genetic and behavioural divergence, which may be expected over time when an invasive species enters in a new environment.

show abstract

Section: Divergence Of Anoplolepis Gracilipes In Arnhem Landcontrasting

confidence: 51%

Recent behavioural and population genetic divergence of an invasive ant in a novel environment

Gruber

Hoffmann

Ritchie

et al. 2011

Diversity and Distributions

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Argentine ants can recruit to resources rapidly and in high numbers (Human and Gordon 1996;Holway 1999;Walters and Mackay 2003). Within their introduced range, Argentine ants exhibit extreme unicoloniality, frequently forming supercolonies (Tsutsui et al 2000;Holway et al 2002a;Suhr et al 2009) that allow high densities and behavioral dominance over resources (Holway et al 1998;Davidson 1998). The propensity of L. humile to form facultative associations with honeydew-producing hemipterans also supports high densities and rates of activity (Davidson 1997;Holway et al 2002a).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Carbohydrate supply limits invasion of natural communities by Argentine ants

Rowles

Silverman

2009

Oecologia

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The ability of species to invade new habitats is often limited by various biotic and physical factors or interactions between the two. Invasive ants, frequently associated with human activities, flourish in disturbed urban and agricultural environments. However, their ability to invade and establish in natural habitats is more variable. This is particularly so for the invasive Argentine ant (Linepithema humile). While biotic resistance and low soil moisture limits their invasion of natural habitats in some instances, the effect of food availability has been poorly explored. We conducted field experiments to determine if resource availability limits the spread and persistence of Argentine ants in remnant natural forest in North Carolina. Replicated transects paired with and without sucrose solution feeding stations were run from invaded urban edges into forest remnants and compared over time using baits and direct counts at feeding stations. Repeated under different timing regimes in 2006 and 2007, access to sucrose increased local Argentine ant abundances (1.6-2.5 fold) and facilitated their progression into the forest up to 73 +/- 21% of 50-m transects. Resource removal caused an expected decrease in Argentine ant densities in 2006, in conjunction with their retreat to the urban/forest boundary. However, in 2007, Argentine ant numbers unexpectedly continued to increase in the absence of sugar stations, possibly through access to alternative resources or conditions not available the previous year such as honeydew-excreting Hemiptera. Our results showed that supplementing carbohydrate supply facilitates invasion of natural habitat by Argentine ants. This is particularly evident where Argentine ants continued to thrive following sugar station removal.

show abstract

“…The success of the Argentine ant as an invading species is mainly explained by its social organization (Human & Gordon, 1996;Holway, 1998;Holway & Suarez, 2004) that is characterized by individuals mixing freely within large supercolonies, which may expand over thousands of km (Tsutsui et al, 2000;Giraud et al, 2002;Corin et al, 2007a;Suhr et al, 2009). Two explanations have been proposed for the occurrence of such large supercolonies in the introduced range.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…One supercolony from the native range seems to have been particularly successful (see also Brandt et al, 2009;Sunamura et al, 2009a), being the source of extant supercolonies spanning about 6000 km in Europe ('main supercolony', Giraud et al, 2002), 1000 km in California ('large supercolony', Tsutsui et al, 2003), 2800 km in Australia (Suhr et al, 2009) and 900 km in New Zealand (Corin et al, 2007a), and two growing supercolonies in Hawaii and Japan (this study; 'Hiroshima Bay group' or 'main', Hirata et al, 2008;Sunamura et al, 2009a,b). The size and lifespan (> 100 years) of these introduced supercolonies contrast with those of native supercolonies that typically have a size of a few hundred metres Vogel et al, 2009) and a longevity of only a few years (Vogel et al, 2009).…”

Section: The Origin and Development Of Introduced Supercoloniesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The worldwide expansion of the Argentine ant

Vogel

Pedersen

Giraud

et al. 2010

Diversity and Distributions

133

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Aim The aim of this study was to determine the number of successful establishments of the invasive Argentine ant outside native range and to see whether introduced supercolonies have resulted from single or multiple introductions. We also compared the genetic diversity of native versus introduced supercolonies to assess the size of the propagules (i.e. the number of founding individuals) at the origin of the introduced supercolonies.Location Global.Methods We used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) markers and microsatellite loci to study 39 supercolonies of the Argentine ant Linepithema humile covering both the native (n = 25) and introduced range (n = 14).Results Data from three mitochondrial genes and 13 nuclear microsatellites suggest that the introduced supercolonies studied originated from at least seven founding events out of the native area in Argentina (primary introductions). The distribution of mtDNA haplotypes also suggests that supercolonies in the introduced range each derive from a single source supercolony and that one of these source supercolonies has been particularly successful, being the basis of many introduced populations spread across the world. Comparison of the genetic diversity of supercolonies based on the five most diverse loci also revealed that native and introduced supercolonies have greatly overlapping ranges of diversity, although the genetic diversity is on average less in introduced than in native supercolonies.Main conclusions Both primary introductions (from the native range) and secondary introductions (from sites with established invasive supercolonies) were important in the global expansion of the Argentine ant. In combination with the similar social organization of colonies in the native and introduced range, this indicates that invasiveness did not evolve recently as a unique and historically contingent event (e.g. reduction of genetic diversity) in this species. Rather, native L. humile supercolonies have characteristics that make them pre‐adapted to invade new – and in particular disturbed – habitats when given the opportunity. These results have important implications with regard to possible strategies to be used to control invasive ants.

show abstract

Genetic and behavioural evidence for a city‐wide supercolony of the invasive Argentine ant Linepithema humile (Mayr) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in southeastern Australia

Cited by 18 publications

References 28 publications

Recent behavioural and population genetic divergence of an invasive ant in a novel environment

Recent behavioural and population genetic divergence of an invasive ant in a novel environment

Carbohydrate supply limits invasion of natural communities by Argentine ants

The worldwide expansion of the Argentine ant

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About