Intraspecific aggression in the difficult ant, Technomyrmex difficilis (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

One mechanism allowing ant species to successfully invade new areas at a rapid pace is unicoloniality, the formation of large networks connecting colonies over hundreds or even thousands of kilometers. These large networks of colonies, or "supercolonies" lack any form of intraspecific aggression, thus fighting between them is absent. I used aggression assays to study unicoloniality between colonies of the invasive difficult ant, Technomyrmex difficilis on the Florida Atlantic University Wilkes Honors College campus and a household located ~32 km northwest from the college. I found that for all trial combinations, no aggression took place among the ants. From these results, I conclude that T. difficilis does display unicoloniality in South Florida.