Complete mitochondrial genome of the birch catkin bug Kleidocerys resedae resedae, as the first representative from the family Lygaeidae (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Lygaeoidea)

Abstract

Kleidocerys resedae resedae (Panzer, 1797) (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Lygaeoidea: Lygaeidae: Ischnorhynchinae) is one of the destructive insect pests of birch and alder trees in Holarctic. Here we sequenced the complete mitochondrial genome of this pest, also representing the first mitochondrial genome of the family Lygaeidae. This genome is 14,688 bp long, with an A+T content of 76.0%, containing 37 typical animal mitochondrial genes and a control region. All genes were arranged in the same gene order as most of other Heteropteran species. Presently, the length of this mitochondrial genome is the shortest among all available Hemipterans, mainly because of its short control region (220 bp). The unusual intergenic spacer between tRNA-His and ND4, only shared by Lygaeoidea, was also found in K. resedae resedae, which supports that this spacer may be the synapomorphy of Lygaeoidea.

• Birch catkin bug
• Kleidocerys resedae resedae
• Lygaeidae
• mitochondrial genome

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Mrs. Cuiqing Gao (Nanjing Forestry University) for supplying the specimen's photograph used in this study. We thank Dr Dávid Rédei (Nankai University) for the suggestions on writing the paper.

Declaration of interest

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper. This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 31372240, No. J1210005).