Ugelvig, LV, Drijfhout, FP, Kronauer, DJ, Boomsma, JJ, Pedersen, JS and Cremer, S (2008) The introduction history of invasive garden ants in Europe: integrating genetic, chemical and behavioural approaches. BMC Biology, 6. 11 -?. ISSN 1741-7007

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Abstract

BACKGROUND: The invasive garden ant, Lasius neglectus, is the most recently detected pest ant and the first known invasive ant able to become established and thrive in the temperate regions of Eurasia. In this study, we aim to reconstruct the invasion history of this ant in Europe analysing 14 populations with three complementary approaches: genetic microsatellite analysis, chemical analysis of cuticular hydrocarbon profiles and behavioural observations of aggression behaviour. We evaluate the relative informative power of the three methodological approaches and estimate both the number of independent introduction events from a yet unknown native range somewhere in the Black Sea area, and the invasive potential of the existing introduced populations. RESULTS: Three clusters of genetically similar populations were detected, and all but one population had a similar chemical profile. Aggression between populations could be predicted from their genetic and chemical distance, and two major clusters of non-aggressive groups of populations were found. However, populations of L. neglectus did not separate into clear supercolonial associations, as is typical for other invasive ants. CONCLUSION: The three methodological approaches gave consistent and complementary results. All joint evidence supports the inference that the 14 introduced populations of L. neglectus in Europe likely arose from only very few independent introductions from the native range, and that new infestations were typically started through introductions from other invasive populations. This indicates that existing introduced populations have a very high invasive potential when the ants are inadvertently spread by human transport.

Item Type: Article
Additional Information: This is the final published version (version of record). It was first published online via BioMed Central at http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1741-7007-6-11 - please refer to any applicable terms of use of the publisher.
Uncontrolled Keywords: aggression, alleles, animals, ants, genetic variation, genetics, population, microsatellite repeats
Subjects: Q Science > QH Natural history > QH301 Biology
Q Science > QH Natural history > QH426 Genetics
Divisions: Faculty of Natural Sciences > School of Physical and Geographical Sciences
Related URLs:
Depositing User: Symplectic
Date Deposited: 20 Apr 2016 08:16
Last Modified: 26 Feb 2021 17:06
URI: https://eprints.keele.ac.uk/id/eprint/1630

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