Alain Lenoir

University François Rabelai in Tours& Natinal Centre for Scientific Research · Insect Biology Research Institute

The revision of the populations of ants of the genus Proformica in Greece recently led to the discovery of two new endemic species: Proformica chelmosensis Lebas & Galkowski, 2019, and Proformica lebasi Borowiec & Salata, 2022. With these descriptions, the number of Proformica species in Greece increased to four. The description of a new species, P...

Cuticular hydrocarbons of some Dolichoderinae species from France and various places like Spain, North Africa, and Italy were studied. The Tapinoma nigerrimum group was particularly analyzed and replaced in the genus Tapinoma. All species were correctly discriminated and a new hydrocarbons profile was found in Spanish mountains in the T. nigerrimum...

Social parasites usually rely on chemical cues (cuticular hydrocarbons) to successfully invade and coexist with their hosts. Most ants that are obligate social parasites (slave-makers) can parasitize several related host species with different levels of chemical similarity although there are few exceptions where there is only a single host species....

On the expansion of Tapinoma invasive ants in France (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). - The invasive ant Tapinoma magnum has been reported in various places in southwestern France (LENOIR & GALKOWSKI, 2017). This ant seems to spread rapidly in this region from Toulouse to Lyon region, as well as in the Loire Valley and Brittany. It is a big problem for e...

Cuticular hydrocarbons of some Dolichoderinae species from France and various places like Spain, North Africa, and Italy were studied. The Tapinoma nigerrimum group was particularly analyzed and replaced in the genus Tapinoma. All species were correctly discriminated and a new hydrocarbons profile was found in Spanish mountains in the T. nigerrimum...

The revision of populations of the genus Proformica in France, published in 2017, led to the redescription of Proformica nasuta (Nylander) and to the description of a new species: Proformica longipilosa Galkowski, Lebas, Wegnez, Lenoir & Blatrix. These two species have a relatively limited distribution area in Southern France. Proformica nasuta see...

Invasive species have major impacts on biodiversity and are one of the primary causes of amphibian decline and extinction. Unlike other top ant invaders that negatively affect larger fauna via chemical defensive compounds, the Argentine ant (Linepithema humile) does not have a functional sting. Nonetheless, it deploys defensive compounds against co...

The crisis of biodiversity we currently experience raises the question of the impact of anthropogenic chemicals on wild life health. Endocrine disruptors are notably incriminated because of their possible effects on development and reproduction, including at very low doses. As commonly recorded in the field, the burden they impose on wild species a...

The aim of this paper is to describe the relationship between two ant species, Formica frontalis and Iberoformica subrufa, found together in shared nests. Therefore, we obtained data from dug nests and outdoor activity in two sympatric populations and investigated the cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) in both sympatric populations and in 10 I. subrufa...

Although alkaloids are frequent in the poison glands of ants of the genus Aphaenogaster, this is not the case for A. iberica. Hypothesizing that in the genus Aphaenogaster, alkaloids are produced by symbiotic bacteria, except for A. iberica, we treated an experimental lot of both A. iberica and a ‘classical’ Aphaenogaster species, A. senilis, with...

In insect societies, chemical communication plays an important role in colony reproduction and individual social status. Many studies have indicated that cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) are the main chemical compounds encoding reproductive status. However, these studies have largely focused on queenless or monogynous species whose workers are capable...

Relative quantities (%) of cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) in younger, lab-reared queens and older, field-sampled queens from the Argentine ant’s introduced range (mean ± SE). The text in bold indicates the CHCs that differed most among the groups. The peaks marked with an asterisk indicate the CHCs included in the statistical analyses. (DOCX)

Relative quantities (%) of cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) across seasons in field-sampled queens from the Argentine ant’s native and introduced ranges (mean ± SE). The text in bold indicates the CHCs that differed most among the groups. The peaks marked with an asterisk indicate the compounds included in the statistical analyses. (DOCX)

Raw data obtained in the chemical analyses. Numbers in bold correspond to each of the 46 CHCs identified from the Argentine ant extracts, and the values correspond to its area. (XLSX)

Tapinoma magnum Mayr, 1861, fourmi de la côte méditerranéenne française, a été découverte dans des zones urbanisées en Aquitaine où elle se comporte comme une espèce invasive. Mots-clés-Fourmis, Aquitaine, invasions biologiques. Abstract-Tapinoma magnum Mayr, 1861, an ant species from the French Mediterranean coast, has been found in urban places i...

The taxonomy of the Palaearctic ant genus Proformica Ruzsky, 1902 is confused and in need of revision. The type specimen for P. nasuta (Nylander, 1856), the type species of the genus, was from Beaucaire, southern France, and is presumably lost. Based on extensive sampling of Proformica nests in southern France, including the type locality, we show...

Phthalates are ubiquitous contaminants and endocrine-disrupting chemicals that can become trapped in the cuticles of insects, including ants which were recognized as good bioindicators for such pollution. Because phthalates have been noted in developed countries and because they also have been found in the Arctic, a region isolated from direct anth...

Matrix of agressiveness between colonies. (CSV)

Microsatellite data. (CSV)

Areas of peaks identified as cuticular lipids. (CSV)

Matrix of geographic distances between colonies (m). (CSV)

Differences in cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) among worker castes and colonies were examined in Apis cerana indica. The roles of tetracosanoic acid, hexadecanoic acid, pentacosane, and (Z)-9-tricosene in nestmate recognition were studied. The CHC profiles of different castes, i.e., newly emerged bees, nurse bees, and forager bees, were found to diff...

In social insects, the evolutionary stability of cooperation depends on the privileged relationships between individuals of the social group, which is facilitated by the recognition of relatives. Nestmate recognition is based on genetically determined cues and/or environmentally derived chemical components present on the cuticle of individuals. Her...

In this study, conducted in French Guiana, a part of the native range of the fire ant Solenopsis saevissima, we compared the cuticular hydrocarbon profiles of media workers with previous results based on intraspecific aggressiveness tests. We noted a strong congruence between the two studies permitting us to delimit two supercolonies extending over...

Communication in ants is based to a great extent on chemical compounds. Recognition of intruders is primarily based on cuticular hydrocarbon (CHC) profile matching but is prone to being cheated. Eucharitid wasps are specific parasitoids of the brood of ants; the immature stages are either well integrated within the colony or are protected within th...

Phthalates are common atmospheric contaminants used in the plastic industry. Ants have been shown to constitute good bioindicators of phthalate pollution. Hence, phthalates remain trapped on ant cuticles which are mostly coated with long-chain hydrocarbons. In this study, we artificially contaminated Lasius niger ants with four phthalates: dibutyl...

D ufour’s gland secretion of several species of the desert ant C ataglyphis from different geographical localities was analyzed. The secretions constituted mostly of alkanes ranging from undecane to nonadecane. Species specificity is expressed as variations in the major component as well as the relative intensities of the additional constituents. P...

Gene flow is the main force opposing divergent selection, and its effects are greater in populations in close proximity. Thus, complete reproductive isolation between parapatric populations is not expected, particularly in the absence of ecological adaptation and sharp environmental differences. Here, we explore the biogeographical patterns of an e...

Although cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) have received much attention from biologists because of their important role in insect communication, few studies have addressed the chemical ecology of clonal species of eusocial insects. In this study we investigated whether and how differences in CHCs relate to the genetics and reproductive dynamics of the...

Gene flow is the main force opposing divergent selection and its effects are greater in populations in close proximity. Thus, complete reproductive isolation between parapatric populations is not expected, particularly in the absence of ecological adaptation and sharp environmental differences. Here we explore the biogeographic patterns of an endem...

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Phthalates are synthetic contaminants released into the environment notably by plastic waste. Semi-volatile, they adsorb to atmospheric particles and get distributed in all ecosystems. Effects of this major anthropogenic pollution in economical species in aquatic habitats have attracted large interest. On the contrary, very few studies have focused...

Table S1. Composition of ant and Thorictus beetle cuticular hydrocarbons (means ± SE). Figure S1. Gas chromatograms of the CHCs of Cataglyphis hispanica and Thorictus sulcicollis. Peak numbers refer to the hydrocarbons described in Table S1. Figure S2. Gas chromatograms of the CHCs of Cataglyphis sp and Thorictus martinezi. Peak numbers refer to th...

Following a comprehensive introduction on ant biology, we describe 45 of the species most commonly found in France (out of a total of more than 200 species). Identification keys are based on characters that can be observed with a hand lens. Many photographs by T. Monnin describe ant behaviours in different environments.

Correct species identification is a precondition for biological study, yet despite a long history of morphological investigations, the systematic position of many ant species remains unclear. Here, we compared and identified cuticular hydrocarbon profiles of workers of several species of Tapinoma from Algeria, Morocco, Israel, France (mainland and...

The host-parasite genera Proformica-Rossomyrmex present four pairs of species with a very wide range of distribution from China to Southeastern Spain, from huge extended plains to the top of high mountains. Here we review (1) the published data on these pairs in comparison to other slave-makers; (2) the different dispersal ability in hosts and para...

In animal societies, most collective and individual decision making depends on the presence of reproductive individuals. The efficient transmission of information among reproductive and non-reproductive individuals is therefore a determinant of colony organization. In social insects, the presence of a queen modulates multiple colonial activities. I...

Associations with symbiotic organisms can serve as a strategy for social insects to resist pathogens. Antibiotics produced by attine ectosymbionts (Actinobacteria) suppress the growth of Escovopsis spp., the specialized parasite of attine fungus gardens. Our objective was to evaluate whether the presence or absence of symbiotic actinobacteria cover...

Correct species identification is a precondition for biological study; yet despite a long history of morphological investigations, the systematic position of many ant species remains unclear. Identifying cryptic or sibling species is essential because morphological similarity may mask great differences in behavior and ecology. Consequently, their r...

Phthalates are universal contaminants. We show that they are trapped by the ant cuticles and maintained permanently at a low level, generally less than 1% of cuticular components. They are found throughout the interior of the insect, predominately in the fat body, which suggests that they are adsorbed by the cuticle. In open plastic boxes free of p...

Cataglyphis viatica (Fabricius, 1787) is firstly reported as a host ant for the dermestid beetle Thorictus buigasi Escalera, 1923 from Morocco. New locality data from Morocco are also recorded for T. buigasi Escalera, 1923.

Host and parasite distributions are crucial to understand the coevolutionary outcomes of their relationships. This comes from the fact that the distribution of a species (fragmented vs. continuous habitats) influences its dispersal opportunities. In this work, we studied the effect of the spatial distribution on dispersal and coevolution between th...

The guest editors would like to thank all of the authors who accepted to participate in this second volume of the annual issue “Ants and Their Parasites”. Particular thanks are due to the numerous referees who generously helped improving the quality of the papers, making this special issue possible.

In many ant species, foragers use pheromones to communicate the location of resources to nestmates. Mass-recruiting species deposit long-lasting anonymous chemical trails, while group-recruiting species use temporary chemical trails. We studied how high temperature influenced the foraging behavior of a mass-recruiting species (Tapinoma nigerrimum)...