Abstract
The complete mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) of Herona marathus was sequenced and analyzed in the study. The mitogenome is 15 487 bp in size, including 37 genes and a putative control region. Thirteen protein-coding genes (PCGs) all start with a typical ATN codon, expect that COI gene uses CGA as its initial codon. Majority of the 13 PCGs have a complete termination codon (TAA or TAG) except for COII and ND4 have a single T–– residue. All tRNAs have typical clover-leaf secondary structure, except for tRNASer(AGN), in which the dihydrouridine (DHU) arm is a simple loop. Bayesian analyses support the monophyly of butterflies and recover high supports for the following family level relationships: (Papilionidae + Hesperioidea + (Pieridae + Lycaenidae + (Danaidae + Nymphalidae))).
Declaration of interest
Funding for this study was supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No.40871034), the Natural Science Foundation of Shanxi Province, China (No.2011011033-2 and 2012011033-3). All authors have read and approved the final manuscript. The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.