Invasive in the North: new latitudinal record for Argentine ants in Europe

Abstract

Environmental niche models predict the presence of the invasive Argentine ant in northwestern Europe, especially along all the French Atlantic coast. Yet, the species has never been observed North from the 45 th parallel in Europe, suggesting either that current models are wrong or that Argentine ants are already spreading north inconspicuously. Here, we report a three-hectare wide colony of Argentine ants, detected in 2016 in Nantes, France, which is 300 km north of the former northern-most outdoor population of this species in Europe. COI sequencing revealed that the haplotype of this new colony is the same as the one found in the so-called Catalonian supercolony, which is distinct from the haplotype found over most of the species range in Europe. Our discovery confirms models' predictions that Argentine ants can colonize north-western Europe and suggests that they might have already reached several other locations along the French Atlantic coast. Detection surveys should be conducted in order to assess Argentine ants' invasion patterns in Western France, particularly in high introduction risk areas such as major cities and maritime ports.

Local coexistence of native and invasive ant species is associated with micro-spatial shifts in foraging activity

“…To date, ~40 ant species have established invasive populations in Europe (Rabitsch 2011;Schifani 2019), yet, only Lasius neglectus and Tapinoma magnum (and to a lesser extent Linepithema humile), can grow large outdoor super-colonies in central and northern Europe, while other invasive ant species are limited to the Mediterranean area (Ugelvig et al 2008;Charrier et al 2020). Thus, the spread of T. magnum threatens all Europe and it is likely that the species can established in other parts of the world if introduced by human activities such as the global horticultural trade (Dekoninck et al 2015;Seifert et al 2017).…”

Revision of the Plagiolepis schmitzii group with description of Pl. invadens sp. nov. – a new invasive supercolonial species (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

“…These observations are repeated in other species: Pl. pygmaea was the only ant species allowed to co-exist and move freely within the territory of a Linepithema humile (Mayr, 1868) supercolonies in France and Spain (Charrier et al 2020) and Pl. alluaudi was observed in the Bermudas (Smith 1957), New Caledonia (Le Breton 2003 and the Great Barrier Reef islands (Burwell et al 2012) to show, in contrast to other ants, no population decrease in the presence of dominant supercolonial Pheidole megacephala (Fabricius, 1793).…”

Chemotaxonomy ofTapinomaand some Dolichoderinae ants from Europe and North Africa

“…It is known as invasive species, found in South France in 13 departments (Antarea accessed 10 Feb 2022), but it seems to expand rapidly. It was found recently In Nantes city (Charrier et al, 2020). Hydrocarbons profiles of the argentine ant are well known, including the queens (see for example Blight et al 2012, Abril et al 2018, Buellesbach 2018 for California).…”