台湾火蚁研究.pdfVIP

MOLECULAR ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION Monogynous and Polygynous Red Imported Fire Ants, Solenopsis invicta Buren (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), in Taiwan JOHNNY S. C. CHEN,1 CHIN-HUI SHEN,2 AND HOW-JING LEE1, 3 Environ. Entomol. 35(1): 167Ð172 (2006) ABSTRACT The social forms of the red imported Þre ant, initially discovered in Taoyuan County in 2003, were determined based on Gp-9 allele identiÞcation. Both polygynous and monogynous colonies were found. It was also found that, in almost all of townships surveyed, there was tendency to have more polygynous nests than monogynous nests. The monogynous nests were indeed authentic monogynous nests without contamination of the cryptic b-prime allele from South America. Sequence comparison revealed that polygynous colonies in Taiwan contained either the Gp-9B1 or Gp-9 B3 variant (Sinv.B1 and Sinv.B3 in GenBank) of the B allele, whereas some of the monogynous colonies contained a Gp-9B2Ðlike variant of the B allele (Sinv.B2 in GenBank). Gp-9 B1 also was found in some monogynous colonies. The scenario of a single introduction by a founding polygynous colony with all of the monogynous nests being descendents of this polygynous nest was also ruled unlikely because of the presence of the monogyne-speciÞc B2 allele. These Þndings favor multiple origins of the red imported Þre ant in Taiwan. KEY WORDS Gp-9, monogyny, polygyny, multiplex polymerase chain reaction, red imported Þre ant RED IMPORTED FIRE ANTS, Solenopsis invicta Buren, are An important aspect of Þre ant biology is the social notorious invasive pests originating from South Amer- form. The two distinct social forms of S. invicta are ica. They recently wer