Mitogenomes of Three Satyrid Butterfly Species (Nymphalidae: Lepidoptera) and Reconstructed Phylogeny of Satyrinae

Abstract

Satyrinae is a 3000-species butterfly subfamily of Nymphalidae. The higher-level classification of this family is still controversial. In this research, we sequenced the complete mitogenomes of three satyrid butterfly species, Hipparchia autonoe, Paroeneis palaearctica, and Oeneis buddha, and studied the phylogeny of Satyrinae with all known complete mitogenomes. The results showed that the lengths of the three satyrid butterfly mitogenomes are 15,435 bp (H. Autonoe), 15,942 bp (P. palaearctica), and 15,259 bp (O. buddha). Gene content and arrangement of newly sequenced mitogenomes are highly conserved and are typical of Lepidoptera. These three mitogenomes were found to have a typical set of 37 genes and an A + T-rich region. The tRNA genes in these three mitogenomes showed a typical clover leaf structure, but the stem of tRNASer (AGN) was lacking dihydroacridine. In these three species, the lengths of the A + T-rich regions were different, which led to differences in mitochondrial genome sizes. The characterizations of the three mitogenomes enrich our knowledge on the Lepidopteran mitogenome and provide us genetic information to reconstruct the phylogenetic tree. Finally, the phylogenetic results confirmed the position of the genus Davidina in the subfamily Satyrini, had a closer phylogenetic relationship with Oeneis, and the phylogenetic analysis supported the formation of Oeneis buddha as an independent taxon in Oeneis.

Characterization of the complete mitochondrial genome of an endemic species in China, Aulocera merlina (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae: Satyrinae) and phylogenetic analysis within Satyrinae

“…monophyletic group, and the genus Lethe was classified as an independent group in our phylogenetic analyses. Correspondingly, Neope and Ninguta were not placed as sister groups to Lethe, which contradicts previous findings (Chen et al, 2020;Dan et al, 2021;Peña et al, 2006). Furthermore, the placement of genus Ninguta varied across our ML and BI trees.…”

“…The nucleotide composition of the A. merlina mitogenome was rich autonoe (Dan et al, 2021) and the GC-skew ranging from −0.271 in Stichophthalma louisa to −0.153 in Callerebia polyphemus (Figure 8).…”

“…The newly sequenced mitogenome contained 37 genes and an A + T‐rich region, with the same gene content and arrangement as other published Satyrinae mitogenomes (e.g., Chen et al., 2020 ; Sun et al., 2021 ; Yang et al., 2020 ). The length of the A. merlina mitogenome (15,259 bp) was equal to that of Lethe dura and O. buddha (Dan et al., 2021 ). Meanwhile, this value fell within the range of the size for other Satyrinae mitogenomes, from 15,122 bp of Melanitis leda (Shi et al., 2013 ) to 16,129 bp of Bicyclus anynana .…”

“…Currently, there are nine tribes and 16 subtribes defined within the Satyrinae (Marín et al., 2011 ). However, the phylogenetic relationships at both the tribe and subtribe levels are still not fully resolved (e.g., Chen et al., 2020 ; Dan et al., 2021 ; Marín et al., 2011 ; Peña et al., 2006 ; Peña & Wahlberg, 2008 ; Sun et al., 2021 ; Wahlberg et al., 2009 ; Wu et al., 2022 ; Yang et al., 2020 ; Yang & Zhang, 2015 ). Given the complexity of these relationships, it is essential to utilize mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) sequences of these species for taxonomic and phylogenetic analyses.…”

Biogeographic–tectonic calibration of 14 nodes in a butterfly timetree

“…The sister of Coenonymphina + Eritina is a large, widespread clade that includes subtribes Mycalesina, Parargina, Lethina and others (Chazot et al., 2021; Dan et al., 2021). Altogether, Coenonymphina + Eritina + “Mycalesina etc.” comprise “Satyrinae II” of Chazot et al.…”