Biological invasions are becoming more prevalent due to the rise of global trade and expansion of urban areas. Ants are among the most prolific invaders with many exhibiting a multiqueen colony structure, dependent colony foundation and reduced internest aggression. Although these characteristics are generally associated with the invasions of exotic ants, they may also facilitate the spread of native ants into novel habitats. Native to diverse habitats across North America, the odorous house ant Tapinoma sessile has become abundant in urban environments throughout the United States. Natural colonies typically have a small workforce, inhabit a single nest, and are headed by a single queen, whereas urban colonies tend to be several orders of magnitude larger, inhabit multiple nests (i.e., polydomy) and are headed by multiple queens (i.e., polygyny). Here, we explore and compare the population genetic and breeding structure of T. sessile within and between urban and natural environments in several localities across its distribution range. We found the social structure of a colony to be a plastic trait in both habitats, although extreme polygyny was confined to urban habitats. Additionally, polydomous colonies were only present in urban habitats, suggesting T. sessile can only achieve supercoloniality within urbanized areas. Finally, we identified strong differentiation between urban and natural populations in each locality and continent-wide, indicating cities may restrict gene flow and exert intense selection pressure. Overall, our study highlights urbanization's influence in charting the evolutionary course for species.

中文翻译：

---

本地城市入侵蚂蚁 Tapinoma 无柄城市适应的一致特征

由于全球贸易的兴起和城市地区的扩张，生物入侵正变得越来越普遍。蚂蚁是最多产的入侵者之一，其中许多表现出多女王群体结构、独立的群体基础和减少的内部攻击性。尽管这些特征通常与外来蚂蚁的入侵有关，但它们也可能促进本地蚂蚁扩散到新的栖息地。原产于北美不同栖息地的有气味的家蚁Tapinoma sessile在整个美国的城市环境中已经变得丰富。自然殖民地通常有少量劳动力，居住在一个巢穴中，由一个女王领导，而城市殖民地往往大几个数量级，居住多个巢穴（即多性）并由多个女王领导（即，一夫多妻制）。在这里，我们探索和比较了T的种群遗传和育种结构。 在其分布范围内的几个地方的城市和自然环境内和城市和自然环境之间固着。我们发现殖民地的社会结构在两个栖息地都是可塑性特征，尽管极端的一夫多妻制仅限于城市栖息地。此外，多头菌落仅存在于城市栖息地，这表明T . 固着只能在城市化地区实现超殖民。最后，我们确定了每个地方和整个大陆的城市人口和自然人口之间的强烈差异，表明城市可能会限制基因流动并施加强烈的选择压力。总体而言，我们的研究强调了城市化在绘制物种进化过程中的影响。