Data from: Inbreeding tolerance as a pre-adapted trait for invasion success in the invasive ant Brachyponera chinensis

Identifying traits that facilitate species introductions and successful
invasions of ecosystems represents a key issue in ecology. Following their
establishment into new environments, many non-native species exhibit
phenotypic plasticity with post-introduction changes in behavior,
morphology or life history traits that allow them to overcome the presumed
loss of genetic diversity resulting in inbreeding and reduced adaptive
potential. Here we present a unique strategy in the invasive ant
Brachyponera chinensis (Emery), in which inbreeding tolerance is a
pre-adapted trait for invasion success, allowing this ant to cope with
genetic depletion following a genetic bottleneck. We report for the first
time that inbreeding is not a consequence of the founder effect following
introduction, but it is due to mating between sister queens and their
brothers that pre-exists in native populations which may have helped it
circumvent the cost of invasion. We show that a genetic bottleneck does
not affect the genetic diversity or the level of heterozygosity within
colonies and suggest that generations of sibmating in native populations
may have reduced inbreeding depression through purifying selection of
deleterious alleles. This work highlights how a unique life history may
pre-adapt some species for biological invasions.