RESEARCH ARTICLE Current distribution and population dynamics of the little fire ant supercolony in Cameroon M. Tindo • P. S. Mbenoun Masse • M. Kenne • R. Mony • J. Orivel • A. Doumtsop Fotio • A. Fotso Kuate ´ • C. Djie ´to-Lordon • A. Fomena • A. Estoup • A. Dejean • J. Foucaud Received: 28 March 2011 / Revised: 22 June 2011 / Accepted: 16 September 2011 / Published online: 5 October 2011 Ó International Union for the Study of Social Insects (IUSSI) 2011 Abstract The little fire ant, Wasmannia auropunctata, is native to Central America, but has been introduced into many parts of the world. We examined the current distri- bution of W. auropunctata in Cameroon, tested for aggression between workers from different parts of the country, and examined the genotypes of workers, queens, and males to evaluate the mating system. We found W. auropunctata at 36 sites in three provinces (Centre, East, and South). We found W. auropunctata only in human- disturbed habitats. Its spread appears to be primarily human mediated. Aggressive behaviour was almost non-existent between workers from different sites, indicating that there is only one supercolony in Cameroon. Our genetic analysis found that only one male/female pair of clones was intro- duced into Cameroon, probably from Gabon. No new male clonal lineage was identified, whereas new sexually derived female clonal lineages were noted. Apart from the genotype of the founding queen, which was well distributed but generally not dominant, a new clonal queen genotype emerged and was both omnipresent and dominant at most sites. These results may be useful in the development of management strategies. Keywords Dispersion Á Invasive ants Á Reproduction strategy Á Unicoloniality Á Wasmannia auropunctata Introduction Social insects, and especially ants, are among the most devastating invaders known, and their threat to native bio- M. Tindo (&) Á M. Kenne Á R. Mony De ´partement de Biologie des Organismes Animaux, Faculte ´ des Sciences, Universite ´ de Douala, BP 24157 Douala, Cameroun e-mail: tindodouala@yahoo.com P. S. Mbenoun Masse Á C. Djie ´to-Lordon Laboratoire de Zoologie, Faculte ´ des Sciences, Universite ´ de Yaounde ´ I, BP 812 Yaounde ´, Cameroun J. Orivel Á A. Dejean Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Ecologie des Fore ˆts de Guyane (UMR-CNRS 8172), Campus Agronomique, Kourou, France A. Doumtsop Fotio Á A. Fotso Kuate ´ International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, Cameroon Station, B.P. 2008 Yaounde ´, Cameroun A. Fomena Laboratoire de Biologie Ge ´ne ´rale, Faculte ´ des Sciences, Universite ´ de Yaounde ´ I, BP 812 Yaounde ´, Cameroun A. Estoup Á J. Foucaud Centre de Biologie et de Gestion des Populations, Institut National de Recherche Agronomique, Campus International de Baillarguet, CS 30 016, 34988 Montferrier/Lez Cedex, France A. Dejean Universite ´ de Toulouse; UPS-ECOLAB, 118 route de Narbonne, 31062 Toulouse, France J. Foucaud Laboratoire Evolution Genome Speciation, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Avenue de la Terrasse, F 91198 Gif sur Yvette, France Insect. Soc. (2012) 59:175–182 DOI 10.1007/s00040-011-0202-x Insectes Sociaux 123