Abstract
Unicoloniality emerges as a feature that characterizes successful invasive species. Its underlying mechanism is reduced intraspecific aggression while keeping interspecific competitiveness. To that effect, we present here a comparative behavioural and chemical study of the invasive ant Wasmannia auropunctata in parts of its native and introduced ranges. We tested the hypothesis that introduced populations (New Caledonia archipelago) have reduced intraspecific aggression relative to native populations (e.g., Ilhéus area, Brazil) and that this correlates with reduced variability in cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs). As predicted, there was high intraspecific aggression in the Brazilian populations, but no intraspecific aggression among the New Caledonian populations. However, New Caledonian worker W. auropunctata remained highly aggressive towards ants of other invasive species. The chemical data corresponded with the behaviour. While CHCs of ants from the regions of Brazil diverged, the profiles of ants from various localities in New Caledonia showed high uniformity. We suggest that in New Caledonia W. auropunctata appears to behave as a single supercolony, whereas in its native range it acts as a multicolonial species. The uniformity of recognition cues in the New Caledonia ants may reflect a process whereby recognition alleles became fixed in the population, but may also be the consequence of a single introduction event and subsequent aggressive invasion of the ecosystem. Chemical uniformity coupled with low intraspecific but high interspecific aggression, lend credence to the latter hypothesis.
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Acknowledgements
We thank the Brazilian Cocoa Research Centre (CEPEC/CEPLAC) and its technician Jose Raimundo Maia dos Santos for field assistance. JHCD acknowledges the Brazilian Council of Research (CNPq) for his research grants (process 550701/02-8). We thank Pr. Luc Passera for providing Linepithema humile colonies and four anonymous referees for helpful comments. Thanks to Raymond Jegat and Celine Glaude for assistance in the laboratory. Thanks to Naomi Paz for editing the English
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Errard, C., Delabie, J., Jourdan, H. et al. Intercontinental chemical variation in the invasive ant Wasmannia auropunctata (Roger) (Hymenoptera Formicidae): a key to the invasive success of a tramp species. Naturwissenschaften 92, 319–323 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-005-0628-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-005-0628-y