Complete mitochondrial genome of the little-known regional endemic Aporia hastata (Oberthür, 1892) (Lepidoptera: Pieridae)

Abstract

The present study reports the mitochondrial genome of A. hastata (Oberthür, 1892), a little-known Aporia species endemic to the southern margin of the Hengduan Mountains in Yunnan Province. This genome is circular, 15,148 bp in length, and consists of 13 PCGs, 22 tRNAs, and two rRNAs. The Bayesian phylogenetic tree clusters A. hastata with other Aporia taxa inside tribe Pierini Duponchel, [1835]. The findings of this study add valuable new information to the genus Aporia and are beneficial to a better understanding of phylogeography of these butterflies.

Keywords:

• Mitogenome
• protein-coding genes
• transfer RNA
• ribosomal RNA
• phylogenetic position

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Kuang Duan, Hui-Hong Zhang, and Dan Luo (Yunnan University, Kunming, China) for their assistance in field work and Adam M. Cotton (Chiang Mai, Thailand) for improving the earlier drafts of this article.

Ethical approval

The focal species used in this study is not under protection of CITES or wildlife laws in China, its status is not assessed by IUCN. The collecting and handling of the butterfly was conducted in accordance with the “Regulation on Experimental Animals of Yunnan Province.”

Authors’ contribution

S.-J. H. conceptualized and designed this study, Y.-Q. J. and S.-J. H. collected samples, Y.-Q. J. and X. Z. carried out experiment and data analysis, S.-J. H. and Y.-Q. J. drafted and revised the manuscript. All authors agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Data availability statement

The genome sequence data supporting the findings of this study are openly available in the GenBank of NCBI at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/genbank/, under accession no. OP373108. The associated Bio-Project and Bio-Sample numbers are PRJNA901130 and SAMN31704713 respectively. The present study used the Sanger dideoxy sequencing method and hence did not register the SRA in NCBI but provided the gel electrophoresis images (Figure S1) and Sanger sequencing results (*.ab1 files) in the Supplementary Package.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Biodiversity Conservation Programme of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, China (China-BON Butterflies) under [SDZXWJZ01013].