Genetic divergence and aggressiveness within a supercolony of the invasive ant Linepithema humile

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dc.contributor.affiliationUniversidade de Santiago de Compostela. Departamento de Zooloxía, Xenética e Antropoloxía Física
dc.contributor.authorSanmartín Villar, Iago
dc.contributor.authorCruz da Silva, Everton
dc.contributor.authorChiara, Violette
dc.contributor.authorCordero Rivera, Adolfo
dc.contributor.authorLorenzo Carballa, M. Olalla
dc.date.accessioned2025-01-15T07:41:06Z
dc.date.available2025-01-15T07:41:06Z
dc.date.issued2022
dc.descriptionBiological invasions constitute an opportunity to study the evolutionary processes behind species’ adaptations. The invasive potential of some species, like the Argentine ant (Linepithema humile), has likely been increasing because they show low intraspecific competition. However, multiple introductions over time or genetic divergence could increase the probability of intraspecific competition, constituting barriers for their dispersal and thus, decreasing invasive success. Here, we studied the genetic and behavioural vari- ability of L. humile workers collected at six locations on the NW coast of the Iberian Peninsula, a possible scenario for multiple introductions and population divergence, due to its high level of maritime traffic and complex coastal geography. We analysed behaviours related to spatial navigation (exploration, wall-following), resources acquisition, and competition (inter and intraspecific aggressiveness) through two relevant seasons for the nest ecology: spring and autumn. Genetic analyses using microsatellites indicated that the nests studied belonged to the most spread supercolony in South Europe. However, we identified the existence of two genetically differentiated clusters in Galiza. Lethal interactions were found between workers from different and similar genetic clusters, but a trend suggests higher agonistic behaviours between the two genetic groups. Genetic differences were positively correlated with the geographical distance, but aggressiveness was not correlated with any of them. Ants from each of the tested nests expressed different behaviours with high plasticity through time. Ants from all nests showed more exploration and aggressiveness, less wall-following and faster detection of food in autumn than in spring, with no intraspecific aggressiveness observed in spring. Our findings suggest competition between nests of the same supercolony and behavioural seasonal variability, supporting the hypothesis of divergent evolutionary processes. The results of our work question the assumed unity of supercolonies of this species and offer insights for understanding the future adaptation of L. humile in the introduced areas.
dc.description.peerreviewedSI
dc.identifier.citationSanmartín-Villar I, Cruz da Silva E, Chiara V, Cordero-Rivera A, Lorenzo-Carballa MO (2022) Genetic divergence and aggressiveness within a supercolony of the invasive ant Linepithema humile. NeoBiota 77: 125–153.
dc.identifier.essn1314-2488
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10347/38574
dc.journal.titleNeoBiota
dc.language.isoeng
dc.page.final153
dc.page.initial125
dc.publisherPensoft
dc.relation.projectIDinfo:eu-repo/grantAgreement/Xunta de Galicia/ED481B-2017%2F034
dc.relation.projectIDinfo:eu-repo/grantAgreement/AEI/Plan Estatal de Investigación Científica y Técnica y de Innovación 2017-2020/PGC2018-096656-B-I00/ES/DIVERSIDAD FUNCIONAL Y ETOLOGICA EN COMUNIDADES CONTINENTALES E INSULARES/
dc.relation.publisherversionhttps://doi.org/10.3897/neobiota.77.90852
dc.rightsCopyright Iago Sanmartín-Villar et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited
dc.rights.accessRightsopen access
dc.subjectintraspecific competition
dc.subjectpopulation genetics
dc.subjectsubcolony
dc.subjectunicoloniality
dc.subjectvariability
dc.titleGenetic divergence and aggressiveness within a supercolony of the invasive ant Linepithema humile
dc.typejournal article
dc.type.hasVersionVoR
dc.volume.number77
dspace.entity.typePublication
relation.isAuthorOfPublication80587eea-12df-4fb6-9ba8-7d76ef5071d2
relation.isAuthorOfPublication.latestForDiscovery80587eea-12df-4fb6-9ba8-7d76ef5071d2

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