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.在入侵分布区内，阿根廷蚁（Argentine ant）种群通常会形成一个地理范围广阔的超群体（supercolony），该群体在遗传与化学层面均保持一致，群体内部不存在种内攻击行为。本研究报道了覆盖科西嘉岛及法国本土的18个筑巢位点的种内攻击行为、表皮碳氢化合物（cuticular hydrocarbons）及种群遗传学的区域分布模式。攻击试验证实了第三个欧洲超群体的存在——科西嘉超群体，该群体与主超群体（Main supercolony）之间的攻击程度依筑巢位点不同呈现中等至高水平，而与加泰罗尼亚超群体（Catalonian supercolony）之间则始终表现出高强度攻击行为。化学分析结果与行为学数据相互印证，科西嘉超群体的工蚁与欧洲主超群体工蚁的表皮碳氢化合物仅存在中等程度差异，而与加泰罗尼亚超群体工蚁则存在显著差异。值得注意的是，加泰罗尼亚超群体工蚁与另外两个超群体的工蚁在核基因标记与线粒体标记上均存在明显遗传分化，但科西嘉超群体与主超群体的筑巢位点之间仅存在极微弱的遗传分化（FST = 0.06）。对超群体遗传组成的详细比较还显示，若前述两个超群体之一起源于另一方，则更可能是主超群体起源于科西嘉超群体，而非反之。总体而言，本研究结果凸显了对超群体间攻击水平开展更多定性与定量分析的重要性，此类分析必须与遗传及化学数据相结合。