Roux Olivier auteur aut IRD Rossi V. auteur aut IRD Cereghino R. auteur aut IRD Compin A. auteur aut IRD Martin J. M. auteur aut IRD Dejean A. auteur aut IRD text journalArticle eng text/pdf born digital access Because territoriality is energetically costly, territorial animals frequently respond less aggressively to neighbours than to strangers, a reaction known as the "dear enemy phenomenon" (DEP). The contrary, the "nasty neighbour effect" (NNE), occurs mainly for group-living species defending resource-based territories. We studied the relationships between supercolonies of the pest fire ant Solenopsis saevissima and eight ant species able to live in the vicinity of its nests plus Eciton burchellii, an army ant predator of other ants. The workers from all of the eight ant species behaved submissively when confronted with S. saevissima (dominant) individuals, whereas the contrary was never true. Yet, S. saevissima were submissive towards E. burchellii workers. Both DEP and NNE were observed for the eight ant species, with submissive behaviours less frequent in the case of DEP. To distinguish what is due to chemical cues from what can be attributed to behaviour, we extracted cuticular compounds from all of the nine ant species compared and transferred them onto a number of S. saevissima workers that were then confronted with untreated conspecifics. The cuticular compounds from three species, particularly E. burchellii, triggered greater aggressiveness by S. saevissima workers, while those from the other species did not. specialized Aggressiveness Cuticular hydrocarbons Dear enemy phenomenon Nasty neighbour effect Species coexistence Supercoloniality GUYANE 080 020 082 98 51-57 2013 0376-6357 https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010060604 10.1016/j.beproc.2013.04.014 0376-6357 [F B010060604] https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010060604 https://www.documentation.ird.fr/intranet/publi/2013/09/010060604.pdf Accès réservé (Intranet de l'IRD) IRD - Base Horizon / Pleins textes 2013-10-02 2017-08-23 fdi:010060604 fre