Attack of the invasive garden ant: aggression behaviour of Lasius neglectus (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) against native Lasius species in Spain
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Attack of the invasive garden ant: aggression behaviour of Lasius neglectus (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) against native Lasius species in Spain. / Cremer, Sylvia; Ugelvig, Line Vej; Lommen, Suzanne T.E.; Petersen, Klaus Skov; Pedersen, Jes Søe.
In: Myrmecologische Nachrichten, Vol. 9, 2006, p. 13-19.Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Attack of the invasive garden ant: aggression behaviour of Lasius neglectus (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) against native Lasius species in Spain
AU - Cremer, Sylvia
AU - Ugelvig, Line Vej
AU - Lommen, Suzanne T.E.
AU - Petersen, Klaus Skov
AU - Pedersen, Jes Søe
N1 - Key words: Lasius neglectus, interference, interspecific competition, invasive ants, aggression behaviour, ecological dominance.
PY - 2006
Y1 - 2006
N2 - Invasive species often dramatically change native species communities by directly and indirectly out-competing na-tive species. We studied the direct interference abilities of the invasive garden ant, Lasius neglectus VAN LOON, BOOMSMA & ANDRÁSFALVY, 1990, by performing one-to-one aggression tests of L. neglectus workers towards three native Lasius ant species that occur at the edge of a L. neglectus supercolony in Seva, Spain. Our results show that L. neglectus is highly aggressive against all three native Lasius species tested (L. grandis FOREL, 1909, L. emarginatus (OLIVIER, 1792), and L. cinereus SEIFERT, 1992), expressed as a higher attack rate of L. neglectus and behavioural dominance throughout the aggressive encounters. Attacks of L. neglectus were performed fastest and most frequent against L. grandis, and also the highest antennation frequencies were observed in encounters between these two species. This could be due to the largest difference in body size, or due to a greater overlap in ecological niche between L. neglectus and L. grandis com-pared to the other two native species. There was only weak support for L. neglectus workers from the periphery of the supercolony to be more aggressive relative to workers from the centre, even though the former encounter native ant species on a daily basis at the edge of the supercolony.
AB - Invasive species often dramatically change native species communities by directly and indirectly out-competing na-tive species. We studied the direct interference abilities of the invasive garden ant, Lasius neglectus VAN LOON, BOOMSMA & ANDRÁSFALVY, 1990, by performing one-to-one aggression tests of L. neglectus workers towards three native Lasius ant species that occur at the edge of a L. neglectus supercolony in Seva, Spain. Our results show that L. neglectus is highly aggressive against all three native Lasius species tested (L. grandis FOREL, 1909, L. emarginatus (OLIVIER, 1792), and L. cinereus SEIFERT, 1992), expressed as a higher attack rate of L. neglectus and behavioural dominance throughout the aggressive encounters. Attacks of L. neglectus were performed fastest and most frequent against L. grandis, and also the highest antennation frequencies were observed in encounters between these two species. This could be due to the largest difference in body size, or due to a greater overlap in ecological niche between L. neglectus and L. grandis com-pared to the other two native species. There was only weak support for L. neglectus workers from the periphery of the supercolony to be more aggressive relative to workers from the centre, even though the former encounter native ant species on a daily basis at the edge of the supercolony.
M3 - Journal article
VL - 9
SP - 13
EP - 19
JO - Myrmecological News
JF - Myrmecological News
SN - 1994-4136
ER -
ID: 3047566