The invasive ant Solenopsis invicta is established in Europe

The red imported fire ant (Solenopsis invicta) is classified as one of the worst invasive alien species1Luque G.M. Bellard C. Cleo B. Bonnaud E. Genovesi P. Simberloff D. Courchamp F. The 100th of the world’s worst invasive alien species.Biol. Invasions. 2014; 16: 981-985https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-013-0561-5Crossref Scopus (150) Google Scholar and as the fifth costliest worldwide2Diagne C. Leroy B. Vaissière A.C. Gozlan R.E. Roiz D. Jarić I. Salles J.-M. Bradshaw C.J.A. Courchamp F. High and rising economic costs of biological invasions worldwide.Nature. 2021; 592: 571-576https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-03405-6Crossref PubMed Scopus (446) Google Scholar, impacting ecosystems, agriculture and human health3Tschinkel W.R. The Fire Ants. Belknap Press, Cambridge, MA2013Crossref Google Scholar. We report the establishment of S. invicta in Europe for the first time, documenting a mature population in Sicily. We use genetic analyses to assess its putative origin, as well as wind tracking and species distribution modelling to predict its potential range on the continent. We show that half of the urban areas in Europe are already suitable and that climate warming expected under current trends will favor the expansion of this invasive ant.