TY - JOUR

T1 - The evolution of invasiveness in garden ants

AU - Cremer, Sylvia

AU - Ugelvig, Line Vej

AU - Drijfhout, Falko P

AU - Schlick-Steiner, Birgit C

AU - Steiner, Florian M

AU - Seifert, Bernhard

AU - Hughes, David Peter

AU - Schulz, Andreas

AU - Petersen, Klaus S

AU - Konrad, Heino

AU - Stauffer, Christian

AU - Kiran, Kadri

AU - Espadaler, Xavier

AU - d'Ettorre, Patrizia

AU - Aktaç, Nihat

AU - Eilenberg, Jørgen

AU - Jones, Graeme R

AU - Nash, David Richard

AU - Pedersen, Jes Søe

AU - Boomsma, Jacobus Jan

N1 - Paper id:: e3838

PY - 2008

Y1 - 2008

N2 - It is unclear why some species become successful invaders whilst others fail, and whether invasive success depends on pre-adaptations already present in the native range or on characters evolving de-novo after introduction. Ants are among the worst invasive pests, with Lasius neglectus and its rapid spread through Europe and Asia as the most recent example of a pest ant that may become a global problem. Here, we present the first integrated study on behavior, morphology, population genetics, chemical recognition and parasite load of L. neglectus and its non-invasive sister species L. turcicus. We find that L. neglectus expresses the same supercolonial syndrome as other invasive ants, a social system that is characterized by mating without dispersal and large networks of cooperating nests rather than smaller mutually hostile colonies. We conclude that the invasive success of L. neglectus relies on a combination of parasite-release following introduction and pre-adaptations in mating system, body-size, queen number and recognition efficiency that evolved long before introduction. Our results challenge the notion that supercolonial organization is an inevitable consequence of low genetic variation for chemical recognition cues in small invasive founder populations. We infer that low variation and limited volatility in cuticular hydrocarbon profiles already existed in the native range in combination with low dispersal and a highly viscous population structure. Human transport to relatively disturbed urban areas thus became the decisive factor to induce parasite release, a well established general promoter of invasiveness in non-social animals and plants, but understudied in invasive social insects.

AB - It is unclear why some species become successful invaders whilst others fail, and whether invasive success depends on pre-adaptations already present in the native range or on characters evolving de-novo after introduction. Ants are among the worst invasive pests, with Lasius neglectus and its rapid spread through Europe and Asia as the most recent example of a pest ant that may become a global problem. Here, we present the first integrated study on behavior, morphology, population genetics, chemical recognition and parasite load of L. neglectus and its non-invasive sister species L. turcicus. We find that L. neglectus expresses the same supercolonial syndrome as other invasive ants, a social system that is characterized by mating without dispersal and large networks of cooperating nests rather than smaller mutually hostile colonies. We conclude that the invasive success of L. neglectus relies on a combination of parasite-release following introduction and pre-adaptations in mating system, body-size, queen number and recognition efficiency that evolved long before introduction. Our results challenge the notion that supercolonial organization is an inevitable consequence of low genetic variation for chemical recognition cues in small invasive founder populations. We infer that low variation and limited volatility in cuticular hydrocarbon profiles already existed in the native range in combination with low dispersal and a highly viscous population structure. Human transport to relatively disturbed urban areas thus became the decisive factor to induce parasite release, a well established general promoter of invasiveness in non-social animals and plants, but understudied in invasive social insects.

U2 - 10.1371/journal.pone.0003838

DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0003838

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 19050762

VL - 3

JO - PLoS ONE

JF - PLoS ONE

SN - 1932-6203

IS - 12

ER -