Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Sep;31(18):4832-4850.
doi: 10.1111/mec.16188. Epub 2021 Oct 5.

Consistent signatures of urban adaptation in a native, urban invader ant Tapinoma sessile

Affiliations

Consistent signatures of urban adaptation in a native, urban invader ant Tapinoma sessile

Alexander J Blumenfeld et al. Mol Ecol. 2022 Sep.

Abstract

Biological invasions are becoming more prevalent due to the rise of global trade and expansion of urban areas. Ants are among the most prolific invaders with many exhibiting a multiqueen colony structure, dependent colony foundation and reduced internest aggression. Although these characteristics are generally associated with the invasions of exotic ants, they may also facilitate the spread of native ants into novel habitats. Native to diverse habitats across North America, the odorous house ant Tapinoma sessile has become abundant in urban environments throughout the United States. Natural colonies typically have a small workforce, inhabit a single nest, and are headed by a single queen, whereas urban colonies tend to be several orders of magnitude larger, inhabit multiple nests (i.e., polydomy) and are headed by multiple queens (i.e., polygyny). Here, we explore and compare the population genetic and breeding structure of T. sessile within and between urban and natural environments in several localities across its distribution range. We found the social structure of a colony to be a plastic trait in both habitats, although extreme polygyny was confined to urban habitats. Additionally, polydomous colonies were only present in urban habitats, suggesting T. sessile can only achieve supercoloniality within urbanized areas. Finally, we identified strong differentiation between urban and natural populations in each locality and continent-wide, indicating cities may restrict gene flow and exert intense selection pressure. Overall, our study highlights urbanization's influence in charting the evolutionary course for species.

Keywords: ants; phylogeography; population genetics; urban adaptation.

PubMed Disclaimer

Comment in

References

REFERENCES

    1. Abbott, K. L. (2005). Supercolonies of the invasive yellow crazy ant, Anoplolepis gracilipes, on an oceanic island: Forager activity patterns, density and biomass. Insectes Sociaux, 52(3), 266-273. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00040-005-0800-6
    1. Alberti, M. (2015). Eco-evolutionary dynamics in an urbanizing planet. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 30(2), 114-126. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2014.11.007
    1. Alberti, M., Correa, C., Marzluff, J. M., Hendry, A. P., Palkovacs, E. P., Gotanda, K. M., Hunt, V. M., Apgar, T. M., & Zhou, Y. (2017). Global urban signatures of phenotypic change in animal and plant populations. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 114(34), 8951. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1606034114
    1. Arnfield, A. J. (2003). Two decades of urban climate research: A review of turbulence, exchanges of energy and water, and the urban heat island. International Journal of Climatology, 23(1), 1-26. https://doi.org/10.1002/joc.859
    1. Banks, N. C., Paini, D. R., Bayliss, K. L., & Hodda, M. (2015). The role of global trade and transport network topology in the human-mediated dispersal of alien species. Ecology Letters, 18(2), 188-199. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.12397.

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources