Development of a Set of Microsatellite Markers to Investigate Sexually Antagonistic Selection in the Invasive Ant .

Sexually antagonistic selection (SAS) occurs when distinct alleles are differentially selected in each sex. In the invasive tawny crazy ant, a genomic region is under SAS, while the rest of the genome is randomly selected in males and females. In this study, we designed a suite of 15 microsatellite markers to study the origin and evolution of SAS in .

Divide and conquer: Multicolonial structure, nestmate recognition, and antagonistic behaviors in dense populations of the invasive ant .

The ecological success of ants has made them abundant in most environments, yet inter- and intraspecific competition usually limit nest density for a given population. Most invasive ant populations circumvent this limitation through a supercolonial structure, eliminating intraspecific competition through a loss of nestmate recognition and lack of aggression toward non-nestmates. Native to South America, has recently invaded many locations worldwide, with invasive populations described as extremely large and dense.