The tropical ant Pheidole megacephala (Fabricius, 1793) in France and discrimination with the local Pheidole pallidula (Nylander, 1849)

Introduced ants appear to be more and more frequent in many countries, becoming sometimes invasives. Recently, Pheidole megacephala (Fabricius, 1793) was signaled in greenhouses near Mont-Saint-Michel and Paris. As the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has identified it as one of the 100 worst invasive alien species worldwide, it was interesting to verify the identity of this species. We used morphological measures, cuticular hydrocarbons and genetical analyses (COI) compared to the local Pheidole pallidula (Nylander, 1849). All the items confirmed the presence of P. megacephala. Now, it does not appear to be invasive, but it needs to be surveilled.