Abstract

Myrmecological community and assessment of Linepithema humile invasion on Marseille Islands (Bouches-du-Rhône, France). On islands even more than on continents, intrusive exotic species represent one of the main causes of the biodiversity erosion. Amid all the exotic species, invasive ants are among the most harmful. About 120 years ago, one of them, the Argentine ant (Linepithema humile) settled down on the French Mediterranean coast. In Corsica Island, in spite of a strong expansion since fifteen years, the Argentine ant is only present in a discontinuous way along the coast. This heterogeneous distribution could be due to a biotic resistance of a local species Tapinoma nigerrimum. Recently, a co-occurrence between T. nigerrimum and L. humile was observed on the archipelago of the Frioul (Marseille – France). The presence of these two species, as well as the absence of available data on the myrmecofauna of the archipelago, incited us to begin a prospecting campaign. Twenty-six species of ants were observed on only 1.9 km² ; this is more than 12 % of the French myrmecofauna on less than 0.004 ‰ of its territory. Moreover, the area invaded by L. humile (about 3 % of the archipelago) is bounded by the Mediterranean Sea, a natural environment (with dominance of Messor spp.) and a semi-natural environment (with dominance of T. nigerrimum). The discovery of a front of invasion between T. nigerrimum and the invasive species might allow us to study, in the future, in natura, the resistance of T. nigerrimum face to L. humile, as well as the speed of propagation and thus, better estimate the risks of L. humile propagation.

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