Characterization of complete mitochondrial genomes of five noctuoid moths (Lepidoptera: Noctuoidea) and their phylogenetic implications

In this study, the complete mitochondrial genomes of five noctuoid moth species, namely, Paectes cristatrix, Hemichloridia euprepia, Trigonodes hyppasia, Mythimna unipuncta, and Risoba obstructa, were newly sequenced and characterized. Based on our investigations, the five mitogenomes showed sizes of 15409, 15619, 15654, 15403, and 15233 bp, respectively, and encoded 37 genes (13 protein-coding, 2 ribosomal RNA, and 22 transfer RNA genes) and a control region. All protein-coding genes (PCGs) in these mitogenomes had typical ATN start codons except for cox1 and nad1. The non-canonical codon CGA was the starter in H. euprepia and M. unipuncta and TTG was the starter in T. hyppasia for cox1. The unusual codon GTG was the starter in R. obstructa for nad1. All tRNA genes showed distinctive putative cloverleaf structures except trnS1 (AGN), which lacked the dihydrouridine (DHU) stem. Bayesian inference (BI) and maximum likelihood (ML) analyses were employed based on 13 PCGs using 159 taxa among the five families of the superfamily Noctuoidea, and the results showed the monophyly of this superfamily with well-supported values. Phylogenetic analyses showed that the newly sequenced endemic species Hemichloridia euprepia clustered separately along with the subfamilies Cuculliinae and Acronictinae with fairly supported values.