Global Invasion History of the Fire Ant

MARINA S. ASCUNCE, CHIN-CHENG YANG, JANE OAKEY, LUIS CALCATERRA, WEN-JER WU,

SCIENCE

AMER ASSOC ADVANCEMENT SCIENCE

Año: 2011 vol. 331 p. 1066 - 1068

0036-8075

The fire ant Solenopsis invicta is a significant pest that was inadvertently introduced into the southern United States almost a century ago and ore recently into California and other regions of the world. An assessment of genetic variation at a diverse set of molecular markers in 2144 fire ant colonies from 75 geographic sites worldwide revealed that at least nine separate introductions of S. invicta have occurred into newly invaded areas and that themain southern U.S. population is probably the source of all but one of these introductions. The sole exception involves a putative serial invasion from the southern United States to California to Taiwan. These results illustrate in stark fashion a severe negative consequence of an increasingly massive and interconnected global trade and travel system.Solenopsis invicta is a significant pest that was inadvertently introduced into the southern United States almost a century ago and ore recently into California and other regions of the world. An assessment of genetic variation at a diverse set of molecular markers in 2144 fire ant colonies from 75 geographic sites worldwide revealed that at least nine separate introductions of S. invicta have occurred into newly invaded areas and that themain southern U.S. population is probably the source of all but one of these introductions. The sole exception involves a putative serial invasion from the southern United States to California to Taiwan. These results illustrate in stark fashion a severe negative consequence of an increasingly massive and interconnected global trade and travel system.