title: The Guianese population of the fire ant Solenopsis saevissima is unicolonial.
abstract: In this study, conducted in French Guiana, a part of the native range of the fire ant Solenopsis saevissima, we compared the cuticular hydrocarbon profiles of media workers with previous results based on intraspecific aggressiveness tests. We noted a strong congruence between the two studies permitting us to delimit 2 supercolonies extending over large distances (up to 54 km), a phenomenon known as unicoloniality. Solenopsis geminata workers, taken as an out-group for cluster analyses, have a very different cuticular hydrocarbon profile. Because S. saevissima has been reported outside its native range, our conclusion is that this species has the potential to become invasive because unicoloniality (i.e., the main attribute for ants to become invasive) was shown at least for the Guianese population.
authors.affiliation: IRBI, Institut de Recherche sur la Biologie de l'Insecte, UMR CNRS 7261, Université François Rabelais, 37200, Tours, France. alain.lenoir@univ-tours.fr.
authors.forename: Alain
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lenoir
authors.affiliation: IRBI, Institut de Recherche sur la Biologie de l'Insecte, UMR CNRS 7261, Université François Rabelais, 37200, Tours, France.
authors.forename: Séverine
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Devers
authors.affiliation: CNRS, Écologie des Forêts de Guyane (UMR CNRS 8172), Campus agronomique, BP 316, 97379, Kourou cedex, France.
authors.forename: Axel
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Touchard
authors.affiliation: CNRS, Écologie des Forêts de Guyane (UMR CNRS 8172), Campus agronomique, BP 316, 97379, Kourou cedex, France.|Université de Toulouse, UPS, INP, Ecolab, 118 route de Narbonne, 31062, Toulouse and CNRS, Ecolab (UMR-CNRS 5245), 31062, Toulouse, France.
authors.forename: Alain
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dejean
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001000:Ants / Q000737:chemistry / Q000502:physiology*; D005616:French Guiana; D006838:Hydrocarbons / Q000032:analysis; D058865:Introduced Species
chemical_list: D006838:Hydrocarbons
keywords: biological invasions; cuticular hydrocarbons; fire ants; unicoloniality