Data from: Variation in the level of aggression, chemical and genetic distance among three supercolonies of the Argentine ant in Europe

In their invasive ranges, Argentine ant populations often form one
geographically vast supercolony, genetically and chemically uniform within
which there is no intraspecific aggression. Here we present regional
patterns of intraspecific aggression, cuticular hydrocarbons and
population genetics of 18 nesting-sites across Corsica and the French
mainland. Aggression tests confirm the presence of a third European
supercolony, the Corsican supercolony, which exhibits moderate to high
levels of aggression, depending on nesting-sites, with the Main
supercolony, and invariably high levels of aggression with the Catalonian
supercolony. The chemical analyses corroborated the behavioral data, with
workers of the Corsican supercolony showing moderate differences in
cuticular hydrocarbons compared to workers of the European Main
supercolony and strong differences compared to workers of the Catalonian
supercolony. Interestingly, there were also clear genetic differences
between workers of the Catalonian supercolony and the two other
supercolonies at both nuclear and mitochondrial markers, but only very
weak genetic differentiation between nesting-sites of the Corsican and
Main supercolonies (FST = 0.06). A detailed comparison of the genetic
composition of supercolonies also revealed that, if one of the last two
supercolonies derived from the other, it is the Main supercolony that
derived from the Corsican supercolony rather than the reverse. Overall,
these findings highlight the importance of conducting more qualitative and
quantitative analyses of the level of aggression between supercolonies,
which has to be correlated with genetic and chemical data.