74
Views
0
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
Research Article

Interactions of the invasive Lasius neglectus (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) with aphids (Hemiptera: Sternorrhyncha: Aphididae)

ORCID Icon, , ORCID Icon & ORCID Icon
 

Summary

Since the invasive garden ant Lasius neglectus Van Loon, Boomsma & Andrásfalvy, Citation1990 was first detected in 1998 in Seva (Barcelona), and despite the number of amateurs and professionals dedicated to the study of ants in Spain, this species had only been located outside Catalonia in Tenerife, Vizcaya and Valencia. Here we present a detailed study of its presence in the city of León (north-western Spain) and its trophic relationships with aphids. In the city we found two clearly separated supercolonies of L. neglectus attending 32 species of aphids living on 31 plant taxa. Lasius neglectus seems to avoid landscaped areas with high humidity and mainly attends aphids that live on shrubs and trees. The study is complemented with all the aphid–ant interactions known for this species.

Résumé

Interactions de l'espèce envahissante Lasius neglectus (Hymenoptera : Formicidae) avec les pucerons (Hemiptera : Sternorrhyncha : Aphididae). Depuis sa détection en 1998 à Seva (Barcelone) et malgré le nombre d’amateurs et de professionnels qui se consacre en Espagne à l’étude des fourmis, la fourmi envahissante Lasius neglectus Van Loon, Boomsma & Andrásfavly, 1990 n’a été localisée ensuite, en dehors de la Catalogne, qu’à Tenerife, Vizcaya et Valencia. Nous présentons ici une étude détaillée sur sa présence dans la ville de León (nord-ouest de l’Espagne) et sur ses rapports trophiques avec des pucerons. Dans cette ville, nous avons trouvé deux super-colonies clairement séparées de cette espèce, associées à 32 espèces de pucerons vivant sur 31 taxons végétaux. Il semble que Lasius neglectus évite les zones de forte humidité et ne recherche que les pucerons qui vivent sur les arbres et les arbustes. Notre étude intègre toutes les interactions fourmi-puceron connues pour cette espèce.

Acknowledgements

This work has been carried out without any kind of funding resources. The authors are very grateful to Francesca Maria Gatti (Université de Strasbourg, Master in Translation, specialized in English and Russian) for reviewing the article in English and to Professor Guy Roques (Albi, France) for translating the abstract in French. The authors want to thank the reviewers, editor and editor-in-chief for their valuable help and comments to improve this paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Reprints and Corporate Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

To request a reprint or corporate permissions for this article, please click on the relevant link below:

Academic Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

Obtain permissions instantly via Rightslink by clicking on the button below:

If you are unable to obtain permissions via Rightslink, please complete and submit this Permissions form. For more information, please visit our Permissions help page.