Twenty four new microsatellite markers in two invasive pavement ants, Tetramorium sp.E and T. tsushimae (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

Abstract

Invasive species trigger biodiversity losses and alter ecosystem functioning, with life history shaping invasiveness (Sakai et al., Annu Rev Ecol Syst 32:305–332, 2001). However, pinpointing the relation of a specific life history to invasion success is difficult. One approach may be comparing congeners. The two Palearctic pavement ants, Tetramorium sp.E (widely known as T. caespitum, Schlick-Steiner et al., Mol Phylogenet Evol 40:259–273, 2006) and T. tsushimae have invaded North America (Steiner et al., Biol Invasions 8:117–123, 2006). Their life histories differ in that T. sp.E has separate single-queened colonies but T. tsushimae multi-queened colonies scattered over large areas (Sanada-Morimura et al., Insect Soc 53:141–148, 2006; Schlick-Steiner et al., Mol Phylogenet Evol 40:259–273, 2006; Steiner et al., Biol Invasions 8:117–123, 2006). Comparison of the genetic diversity in the entire native and non-native ranges will elucidate the invasion histories. Here, we present 13 and 11 microsatellites, developed for T. sp.E and T. tsushimae, respectively, and characterize all for both species.