The complete mitochondrial genome of Chibiraga houshuaii (Lepidoptera, Limacodidae) and its phylogenetic implications

Abstract

Chibiraga is a mall East Asian genus in the family Limacodidae (slug-moths). The latter includes many agricultural pests. Mitochondrial genome analysis is an important tool for studying insect molecular identification and phylogenetics. However, there are very few mitogenome sequences available for Limacodidae species, and none for the genus Chibiraga at all. To explore the mitogenome features of Chibiraga and verify its phylogenetic position, the complete mitogenome of Chibiraga houshuaii was sequenced and annotated. The complete 15,487 bp genome encoded 37 mitochondrial genes, including 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), 22 transfer RNA (tRNA) genes, two ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes, and a control region (CR). Most of the PCGs had typical ATN start codons and terminated with TAA or a single T residue. UUA (Leu2), AUU (Ile), UUU (Phe), AUA (Met) and AAU (Asn) were the five most frequently used codons. All tRNAs were folded into cloverleaf secondary structure, except for trnS1, which lacked the DHU arm. Phylogenetic analyses within the superfamily Zygaenoidea were performed based on multiple datasets from mitochondrial genes. The results showed that the families Phaudidae, Limacodidae and Zygaenidae were respectively recovered as monophyly; C. houshuaii was clustered in a clade with nettle type larvae in Limacodidae.