Ecological niche shift and suitable area expansion of a globally invasive species Phthorimaea operculella.

Phthorimaea operculella is a major potato pest of global importance, early warning and detection of which are of significance. In this study, we analyzed the climate niche conservation of P. operculella during its invasion by comparing the overall climate niche from three dimensions, including the differences between native range (South America) and entire invaded region (excluding South America), the differences bwtween native range (South America) and five invaded continents (North America, Oceania, Asia, Africa, and Europe), as well as the differences between native region (South America) and an invaded region (China). We constructed ecological niche models for its native range (South America) and invaded region (China). The results showed that the climatic niche of the pest has expanded to varying degrees in different regions, indicating that the pest could well adapt to new environments during the invasion. Almost all areas of South America are suitable for P. operculella. In China, its suitable area is mainly concentrated in Shandong, Hebei, Tianjin, Beijing, Henan, Hubei, Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan, Hainan, northern Guangxi, southern Hunan, Anhui, Guangdong, Jiangsu, southern Shanxi, and southern Shaanxi. With increasing greenhouse gas emissions and global temperature, its suitable area will decrease at low latitude and increase gradually at high latitude. Specifically, the northern boundary will extend to Liaoning, Jilin, and the southeastern region of Inner Mongolia, while the western boundary extends to Sichuan and the southeast Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The suitable area in the southeast Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, Hainan Island, and the south of Yangtze River, will gradually decrease. The total suitable habitat area for P. operculella in China is projected to increase under future climate condition. From 2081 to 2100, under the three greenhouse gas emissions scenarios of ssp126, ssp370, and ssp585, the suitable area is expected to increase by 27.78, 165.54, and 140.41 hm2, respectively. Therefore, it is crucial to strengtehen vigilance and implement strict measures to prevent the further expansion of P. operculella.

Cryptic diversity begets challenges and opportunities in biodiversity research.

How many species of life are there on Earth? This is a question that we want to know but cannot yet answer. Some scholars speculate that the number of species may reach 2.2 billion when considering cryptic diversity and that each morphology-based insect species may contain an average of 3.1 cryptic species. With nearly two million described species, such high estimates of cryptic diversity would suggest that cryptic species are widespread. The development of molecular species delimitation has led to the discovery of a large number of cryptic species, and cryptic biodiversity has gradually entered our field of vision and attracted more attention. This paper introduces the concept of cryptic species, how they evolve, and methods by which they may be discovered and confirmed, and provides theoretical and methodological guidance for the study of hidden species. A workflow of how to confirm cryptic species is provided. In addition, the importance and reliability of multi-evidence-based integrated taxonomy are reaffirmed as a way to better standardize decision-making processes. Special focus on cryptic diversity and increased funding for taxonomy is needed to ensure that cryptic species in hyperdiverse groups are discoverable and described. An increased focus on cryptic species in the future will naturally arise as more difficult groups are studied, and thereby, we may finally better understand the rules governing the evolution and maintenance of cryptic biodiversity.

'Junk' that matters: the role of transposable elements in bumblebee genome evolution.

Transposable elements (TEs) are mobile DNA sequences that are widely distributed in eukaryotic genomes, where they are known to serve as a major force in genome evolution. The phenotypic impacts of TEs, while less well-studied, have also been discovered. Bumblebees are globally important pollinators in natural ecosystems and agriculture. Although TEs comprise a small fraction of bumblebee genomes, emerging evidence suggests that TEs are the major contributor of genome size variation across species and are involved in the formation of new coding and regulatory sequences. We review recent discoveries related to TEs in bumblebees, as well as outlining three key questions for the future of the field. In the future, we argue long-read sequencing technologies and genome editing techniques will help us identify TEs in bumblebees, unveil mechanisms that could account for their silencing and limited abundance, and uncover their contributions to phenotypic diversification, ecological adaptation, and speciation.

Insights into the structure and composition of mineralized hard cocoons constructed by the oriental moth, Monema (Cnidocampa) flavescens Walker.

Animals widely use minerals and organic components to construct biomaterials with excellent properties, such as teeth, bones, molluscan shells and eggshells. The larvae of the oriental moth, Monema (Cnidocampa) flavescens Walker, secrete silk proteins that combine closely with calcareous minerals to construct a hard cocoon, which is completely different from the mineral-free Bombyx mori cocoon. The cocoons of oriental moths are likely to be the hardest among the cocoons constructed by insect species. The cocoons of oriental moths were found to be mainly composed of calcium oxalates and Asx/Ser/Gly-rich cocoon proteins, but the types of calcium oxalates and cocoon proteins remain to be elucidated. In this study, we provide an in-depth explanation of the inorganic and organic components in the oriental moth cocoon. Microscopy and imaging technologies revealed that the cocoon is composed of mineral crystals, silk fibers and other organic matter. X-ray diffraction and infrared spectral analyses showed that the mineral crystals in the oriental moth cocoon were mainly CaC2H2O4·H2O. ICP-OES analysis suggested that the mineral crystals in the cocoons were mainly CaC2H2O4·H2O. LC-MS/MS-based proteomics allowed us to identify 467 proteins from the oriental moth cocoon, including 252 uncharacterized proteins, 87 enzymes, 36 small molecule binding proteins, and 5 silk proteins. Among the uncharacterized proteins, 25 of which were Asn-rich proteins because they contained a high proportion of Asn residues (19.1%-41.4%). Among the top 20 cocoon proteins with the highest abundance, 9 of which were Asn-rich proteins. The qPCR was used to investigate the expression patterns of the major cocoon protein-coding genes. Three fibroins and three Asn-rich proteins were expressed only in the silk gland but not in other tissues. The expression of Asn-rich proteins in the silk gland gradually increased from the anterior silk gland to the posterior silk gland. These findings provide important references for understanding the formation mechanism and mechanical properties of mineralized hard cocoons constructed by oriental moths.

Robust Impact Effect and Super-Lyophobic Reduced Galinstan on Polymers Applied for Energy Harvester.

In this paper, we present a novel reduced Galinstan-based microfluidic energy harvester, which can converse kinetic energy to electricity from an arbitrary vibration source. Firstly, the wetting behaviors of reduced Galinstan are performed, which shows a robust impact effect on polymer substrates. Moreover, the electric circuit model of the reduced Galinstan-based energy harvester is made and discussed by the use of the EDLCs (electrical double layer capacitors). After modeling, the microfluidic energy harvester with coplanar microfluidic channels is designed and fabricated. Finally, the performance of the microfluidic energy harvester is investigated, which can harvest multi-direction vibration energy. The experiment results demonstrate that the novel reduced Galinstan-based microfluidic energy harvester is suitably and uniquely applied in a complex vibration environment.

The complete mitochondrial genome of a satin moth: Leucoma chrysoscela (Lepidoptera: Erebidae, Lymantriinae).

We describe the mitogenome sequence of Leucoma chrysoscela (Collenette, 1934) collected in the Longtan National Forest Park, which is located in the southeast of China. The assembled mitogenome is 15,508 bp in length and consists 13 protein coding genes, 22 transfer-RNA genes, 2 ribosomal-RNA genes, and one A + T rich region. The most common start codon for 13 PCGs is ATT and the most common termination codon is TAA. The overall G + C content was only 20.45% in the heavy strand. The result of phylogenetic analysis shows that the relationship of L. chrysoscela is close to the species in the same subfamily Lymantriinae.

Identification of Species by Combining Molecular and Morphological Data Using Convolutional Neural Networks.

Integrative taxonomy is central to modern taxonomy and systematic biology, including behavior, niche preference, distribution, morphological analysis, and DNA barcoding. However, decades of use demonstrate that these methods can face challenges when used in isolation, for instance, potential misidentifications due to phenotypic plasticity for morphological methods, and incorrect identifications because of introgression, incomplete lineage sorting, and horizontal gene transfer for DNA barcoding. Although researchers have advocated the use of integrative taxonomy, few detailed algorithms have been proposed. Here, we develop a convolutional neural network method (morphology-molecule network [MMNet]) that integrates morphological and molecular data for species identification. The newly proposed method (MMNet) worked better than four currently available alternative methods when tested with 10 independent data sets representing varying genetic diversity from different taxa. High accuracies were achieved for all groups, including beetles (98.1% of 123 species), butterflies (98.8% of 24 species), fishes (96.3% of 214 species), and moths (96.4% of 150 total species). Further, MMNet demonstrated a high degree of accuracy ($>$98%) in four data sets including closely related species from the same genus. The average accuracy of two modest subgenomic (single nucleotide polymorphism) data sets, comprising eight putative subspecies respectively, is 90%. Additional tests show that the success rate of species identification under this method most strongly depends on the amount of training data, and is robust to sequence length and image size. Analyses on the contribution of different data types (image vs. gene) indicate that both morphological and genetic data are important to the model, and that genetic data contribute slightly more. The approaches developed here serve as a foundation for the future integration of multimodal information for integrative taxonomy, such as image, audio, video, 3D scanning, and biosensor data, to characterize organisms more comprehensively as a basis for improved investigation, monitoring, and conservation of biodiversity. [Convolutional neural network; deep learning; integrative taxonomy; single nucleotide polymorphism; species identification.].

An intercontinental comparison of insect seed predation between introduced and native oaks.

Novel interactions between introduced oaks and their natural enemies across different continents provide an opportunity to test the enemy release hypothesis (ERH) at local and global scales. Based on the ERH, we assessed the impacts of native seed-feeding insects on introduced and native oaks within and among continents. We combined a common-garden experiment in China and biogeographic literature surveys to measure seed predation by insects and the proportion of acorn embryos surviving after insect infestation among 4 oak species with different geographical origins: Quercus mongolica origin from China, Q. robur and Q. petraea from Europe, and Q. rubra from North America. Mostly supporting the ERH, oaks in introduced continents escaped seed predation compared to those in native continents and compared to other native oaks in introduced continents. Common-garden comparisons showed that total acorn infestation rate of introduced Q. rubra (section Lobatae) was considerably lower than that of native oaks (section Quercus) in China and Europe, likely because of the differences in seed traits associated with different oak sections. Literature surveys showed that seed predation of introduced oaks was lower in the introduced continent than in the native continent. Embryo survival was higher in introduced Q. rubra than native oaks in China and Poland. However, insect seed predation of recently introduced Q. rubra in China was similar to that in Europe, which is not consistent with the ERH. Our results suggest that reduced acorn attack by native insects and higher embryo survival after acorn damage could increase the establishment success or invasion risk of introduced oaks in non-native continents.

High-Efficiency Large-Area Printed Multilayer Liquid Metal Wires for Stretchable Biomedical Sensors with Recyclability.

Stretchable conductors are essential for soft robots, wearable on-skin electronic technologies, and bioelectronics. The utilization of sophisticated stretchable conductors requires a new, simple, rapid, and large-scale printing process whose features include high stretchability, high precision, multilayers, and recyclability simultaneously for commercial wearable electronics. To address this need, an LM (liquid metal) wire was developed using a simple, rapid, and large-scale soft stamper-based printing process and employed to realize LM wire-based conductors and capacitors, which simultaneously offer high stretchability (>380%), high precision past 50 µm, and electromechanical response stability after stretching for up to an hour. Based on the excellent electromechanical responses, the LM wire-based capacitors, as strain sensors, attached to finger joints resulted in precise gesture detection. Meanwhile, a simple transparent wearable e-skin consisting of a 6 × 6 LM wire-based capacitor array without rigid parts successfully monitored a multi-point touch. At last, a portable noninvasive stretchable multilayer LM wire-based pulse sensor with recyclability is fabricated to monitor the patient's heartbeats. The experimental results reveal that the stretchable biomedical sensors have the potential to help patients to improve their life in healthcare, including replacement prosthetic devices, daily and sports activity tracking, continuous health monitoring, and others.

The First Mitogenomes of the Subfamily Odontiinae (Lepidoptera, Crambidae) and Phylogenetic Analysis of Pyraloidea.

The complete mitochondrial genomes of three species of Odontiinae were newly sequenced: Dausara latiterminalis Yoshiyasu, Heortia vitessoides (Moore), and Pseudonoorda nigropunctalis (Hampson). These circular and double-stranded mitogenomes vary from 15,084 bp to 15,237 bp in size, including 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), two ribosomal RNA genes (rRNAs), and 22 transfer RNA genes (tRNAs) and an A + T-rich region. The nucleotide composition indicated a strong A/T bias. Most PCGs are initiated with an ATN codon and terminated by a codon of TAR. All tRNAs could be folded into the clover-leaf structure with the exception of trnS1 (AGN), in which the dihydrouridine (DHU) arm formed a simple loop, and the motif 'ATAG' and 'ATTTA' in the A + T-rich region was also founded. The phylogenomic analyses covering Odontiinae + 11 subfamilies of Pyraloidea were conducted. Similar topologies were generated from both Bayesian inference (BI) and maximum likelihood (ML) analyses based on the nucleotide and amino acid sequence data. There was some discrepancy in the sister-group relationship of Odontiinae and Glaphyriinae, and the relationships among the subfamilies in the 'CAMMSS clade' of the Crambidae. The results of this study suggest that mitogenomic data are useful for resolving the deep-level relationships of Pyraloidea and the topologies generated from amino acid data might be more realistic and reliable. Moreover, more mitogenomic taxon sampling and larger scale analyses with more genes or a combination of mitogenomic and nuclear genes are needed to reconstruct a comprehensive framework of the pyraloid phylogeny.

Characterization and Phylogenetic Analysis of the Complete Mitochondrial Genome of Laelia suffusa (Lepidoptera: Erebidae, Lymantriinae).

In this study, the complete mitochondrial genome of a white tussock moth, Laelia suffusa (Walker, 1855) (Lepidoptera: Erebidae, Lymantriinae), was sequenced and annotated. The genome sequence was 15,502 bp in length and comprised 13 PCGs, 2 rRNAs, 22 tRNAs, and a single noncoding control region (CR). The nucleotide composition of the genome was highly A + T biased, accounting for 79.04% of the whole genome and with a slightly positive AT skewness (0.015). Comparing the gene order with the basal species of Lepidoptera, a typical trnM rearrangement was detected in the mitogenome of L. suffusa. Besides, the trnM rearrangement was found at the head of trnI and trnQ, rather than at the back. The 13 PCGs used ATN as their start codons, except for the cox1 which used CGA. Out of the 22 tRNAs, only 1 tRNA (trnS1) failed to fold in a typical cloverleaf secondary structure. The conserved motif 'ATAGA + poly-T' was detected at the start of the control region which was similar to other Lepidoptera species. In total, 10 overlapping regions and 19 intergenic spacers were identified, ranging from 1 to 41 and 2 to 73 bp, respectively. Phylogenetic analysis showed that Lymantriinae was a monophyletic group with a high support value and L. suffusa was closely related to tribe Orgyiini (Erebidae, Lymantriinae). Moreover, the phylogenetic relationship of Noctuoidea (Lepidoptera) species was reconstructed using two datasets (13 PCGs and 37 genes) and these supported the topology of (Notodontidae + (Erebidae + (Nolidae + (Euteliidae + Noctuidae)))).

Plant-herbivorous insect networks: who is eating what revealed by long barcodes using high-throughput sequencing and Trinity assembly.

Interactions between plants and insects are among the most important life functions for all organism at a particular natural community. Usually a large number of samples are required to identify insect diets in food web studies. Previously, Sanger sequencing and next generation sequencing (NGS) with short DNA barcodes were used, resulting in low species-level identification; meanwhile the costs of Sanger sequencing are expensive for metabarcoding together with more samples. Here, we present a fast and effective sequencing strategy to identify larvae of Lepidoptera and their diets at the same time without increasing the cost on Illumina platform in a single HiSeq run, with long-multiplex-metabarcoding (COI for insects, rbcL, matK, ITS and trnL for plants) obtained by Trinity assembly (SHMMT). Meanwhile, Sanger sequencing (for single individuals) and NGS (for polyphagous) were used to verify the reliability of the SHMMT approach. Furthermore, we show that SHMMT approach is fast and reliable, with most high-quality sequences of five DNA barcodes of 63 larvae individuals (54 species) recovered (full length of 100% of the COI gene and 98.3% of plant DNA barcodes) using Trinity assembly (up-sized to 1015 bp). For larvae diets identification, 95% are reliable; the other 5% failed because their guts were empty. The diets identified by SHMMT approach are 100% consistent with the host plants that the larvae were feeding on during our collection. Our study demonstrates that SHMMT approach is reliable and cost-effective for insect-plants network studies. This will facilitate insect-host plant studies that generally contain a huge number of samples.

A Numerical Model of a Perforated Microcantilever Covered with Cardiomyocytes to Improve the Performance of the Microcantilever Sensor.

A few simple polymeric microsystems, such as microcantilever sensors, have recently been developed for the preliminary screening of cardiac toxicity. The microcantilever deflection produced by a change in the cardiomyocyte (CM) contraction force is important for understanding the mechanism of heart failure. In this study, a new numerical model is proposed to analyze the contractile behavior of CMs cultured on a perforated microcantilever surface for improving the performance of the microcantilever sensor. First, the surface traction model is used to investigate the bending displacement of the plain microcantilever. In order to improve the bending effect, a new numerical model is developed to analyze the bending behavior of the perforated microcantilever covered with CMs. Compared with the designed molds, the latter yields better results. Finally, a simulation analysis is proposed based on a finite element method to verify the presence of a preformed mold. Moreover, the effects of various factors on the bending displacement, including microcantilever size, Young's modulus, and porosity factor, are investigated. Both the simulation and numerical results have good consistency, and the maximum error between the numerical and simulation results is not more than 3.4%, even though the porosity factor reaches 0.147. The results show that the developed mold opens new avenues for CM microcantilever sensors to detect cardiac toxicity.

Efficient COI barcoding using high throughput single-end 400 bp sequencing.

BACKGROUND: Over the last decade, the rapid development of high-throughput sequencing platforms has accelerated species description and assisted morphological classification through DNA barcoding. However, the current high-throughput DNA barcoding methods cannot obtain full-length barcode sequences due to read length limitations (e.g. a maximum read length of 300 bp for the Illumina's MiSeq system), or are hindered by a relatively high cost or low sequencing output (e.g. a maximum number of eight million reads per cell for the PacBio's SEQUEL II system). RESULTS: Pooled cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) barcodes from individual specimens were sequenced on the MGISEQ-2000 platform using the single-end 400 bp (SE400) module. We present a bioinformatic pipeline, HIFI-SE, that takes reads generated from the 5' and 3' ends of the COI barcode region and assembles them into full-length barcodes. HIFI-SE is written in Python and includes four function modules of filter, assign, assembly and taxonomy. We applied the HIFI-SE to a set of 845 samples (30 marine invertebrates, 815 insects) and delivered a total of 747 fully assembled COI barcodes as well as 70 Wolbachia and fungi symbionts. Compared to their corresponding Sanger sequences (72 sequences available), nearly all samples (71/72) were correctly and accurately assembled, including 46 samples that had a similarity score of 100% and 25 of ca. 99%. CONCLUSIONS: The HIFI-SE pipeline represents an efficient way to produce standard full-length barcodes, while the reasonable cost and high sensitivity of our method can contribute considerably more DNA barcodes under the same budget. Our method thereby advances DNA-based species identification from diverse ecosystems and increases the number of relevant applications.

Taxonomic revision of Telemidae (Arachnida, Araneae) from East and Southeast Asia.

Species of the spider family Telemidae Fage, 1913 from East and Southeast Asia are revised. Four new genera are erected: Mekonglema Zhao & Li, gen. nov. with the type species Mekonglema bailang Zhao & Li, sp. nov. (♂♀, Yunnan, China), Siamlema Zhao & Li, gen. nov. with the type species Siamlema changhai Zhao & Li, sp. nov. (♂♀, southern Thailand), Sundalema Zhao & Li, gen. nov. with the type species Sundalema bonjol Zhao & Li, sp. nov. (♂♀, Sumatra), and Zhuanlema Zhao & Li, gen. nov. with the type species Zhuanlema peteri Zhao & Li, sp. nov. (♂♀, northern Laos). Eight additional new species are described: Mekonglema kaorao Zhao & Li, sp. nov. (♂♀, northern Laos), M. walayaku Zhao & Li, sp. nov. (♂♀, Yunnan, China), M. yan Zhao & Li, sp. nov. (♂♀, Yunnan, China), Pinelema daguaiwan Zhao & Li, sp. nov. (♂♀, Guangxi, China), P. shiba Zhao & Li, sp. nov. (♂♀, Guangxi, China), P. tham Zhao & Li, sp. nov. (♂♀, northern Laos), Siamlema suea Zhao & Li, sp. nov. (♂♀, southern Thailand), and Sundalema khaorakkiat Zhao & Li, sp. nov. (♂♀, southern Thailand). Thirty species are transferred from the genus Telema Simon, 1882 to the genera Pinelema Wang & Li, 2012, Sundalema gen. nov., and Telemofila Wunderlich, 1995. Seychellia xinpingi Lin & Li, 2008 is transferred to Mekonglema gen. nov. as M. xinpingi comb. nov. Furthermore, the genus Pinelema is divided into seven species groups based on male morphological characters.

Chromosome-level genome assembly of an important pine defoliator, Dendrolimus punctatus (Lepidoptera; Lasiocampidae).

Dendrolimus spp. are important destructive pests of conifer forests, and Dendrolimus punctatus Walker (Lepidoptera; Lasiocampidae) is the most widely distributed Dendrolimus species. During periodic outbreaks, this species is said to make "fire without smoke" because large areas of pine forest can be quickly and heavily damaged. Yet, little is known about the molecular mechanisms that underlie the unique ecological characteristics of this forest insect. Here, we combined Pacific Biosciences (PacBio) RSII single-molecule long reads and high-throughput chromosome conformation capture (Hi-C) genomics-linked reads to produce a high-quality, chromosome-level reference genome for D. punctatus. The final assembly was 614 Mb with contig and scaffold N50 values of 1.39 and 22.15 Mb, respectively, and 96.96% of the contigs anchored onto 30 chromosomes. Based on the prediction, this genome contained 17,593 protein-coding genes and 56.16% repetitive sequences. Phylogenetic analyses indicated that D. punctatus diverged from the common ancestor of Hyphantria cunea, Spodoptera litura and Thaumetopoea pityocampa ~ 108.91 million years ago. Many gene families that were expanded in the D. punctatus genome were significantly enriched for the xenobiotic biodegradation system, especially the cytochrome P450 gene family. This high-quality, chromosome-level reference genome will be a valuable resource for understanding mechanisms of D. punctatus outbreak and host resistance adaption. Because this is the first Lasiocampidae insect genome to be sequenced, it also will serve as a reference for further comparative genomics.

Regional assemblages shaped by historical and contemporary factors: Evidence from a species-rich insect group.

Understanding diversity patterns requires accounting for the roles of both historical and contemporary factors in the assembly of communities. Here, we compared diversity patterns of two moth assemblages sampled from Taihang and Yanshan mountains in Northern China and performed ancestral range reconstructions using the Multi-State Speciation and Extinction model, to track the origins of these patterns. Further, we estimated diversification rates of the two moth assemblages and explored the effects of contemporary ecological factors. From 7,788 specimens we identified 835 species belonging to 23 families, using both DNA barcode analysis and morphology. Moths in Yanshan mountains showed higher species diversity than in Taihang mountains. Ancestral range analysis indicated Yanshan as the origin, with significant historical dispersals from Yanshan to Taihang. Asymmetrical diversification, population expansion, along with frequent and considerable gene flow were detected between communities. Moreover, dispersal limitation or the joint effect of environment filtering and dispersal limitation were inferred as main driving forces shaping current diversity patterns. In summary, we demonstrate that a multiscale (community, population and species level) analysis incorporating both historical and contemporary factors can be useful in delineating factors contributing to community assembly and patterning in diversity.

Mitochondrial phylogeny and comparative mitogenomics of closely related pine moth pests (Lepidoptera: Dendrolimus).

BACKGROUND: Pine moths, Dendrolimus spp. (Lasiocampidae), are serious economic pests of conifer forests. Six closely related species (Dendrolimus punctatus, D. tabulaeformis, D. spectabilis, D. superans, D. houi, and D. kikuchii) occur in China and cause serious damage to coniferophyte. The complete mito genomes of Dendrolimus genus are significant to resolve the phylogenetic relationship and provide theoretical support in pest control. METHODS: The complete mitogenomes of three species (D. superans, D. houi, and D. kikuchii) were sequenced based on PCR-amplified with universal primers, which were used to amplify initial fragments. Phylogenetic analyses were carried out with 78 complete mitogenomes of lepidopteran species from 10 superfamilies. RESULTS: The complete mitochondrial genomes of these three species were 15,417, 15,381, and 15,377 bp in length, separately. The phylogenetic analyses produced consistent results for six Dendrolimus species based on complete mitogenomes, two major clades were formed, one containing D. spectabilis clustered with D. punctatus + D. tabulaeformis, and D. superans as the sister group to this three-taxon clade, the other containing D. kikuchii and D. houi. Comparative analyses of the congeneric mitochondrial genomes were performed, which showed that non-coding regions were more variable than the A+T rich region. The mitochondrial nucleotide diversity was more variable when compared within than among genus, and the concatenated tRNA region was the most conserved and the nd6 genes was the most variable.

Phylogeography of Dendrolimus punctatus (Lepidoptera: Lasiocampidae): Population differentiation and last glacial maximum survival.

Although the Masson pine moth, Dendrolimus punctatus, is one of the most destructive forest pest insects and is an endemic condition in China, we still do not fully understand the patterns of how its distribution range varies in response to Quaternary climatic oscillations. Here, we sequenced one maternally inherited mitochondrial gene (COI) and biparentally inherited nuclear data (ITS1 and ITS2) among 23 natural populations across the entire range of the species in China. A total of 51 mitotypes and 38 ribotypes were separately obtained using mtDNA and ITS1 data. Furthermore, significant phylogeographical structure (N ST > G ST, p < 0.01) were detected. The spatial distribution of mitotypes implied that two distinct groups existed in the species: one in the southwest distribution, including 10 locations, and the other located in the northeast region of China. It is suggested, therefore, that each group was derived from ancestors that occupied different isolated refugia during previous periods, possibly last glacial maximum. Mismatch distribution and Bayesian population dynamics analysis suggested the population size underwent sudden expansion, which is consistent with the results of ecological niche modeling. As a typical phytophagous insect, the history of population expansion was in accordance with the host plants, providing abundant food resources and habitat. Intraspecific success rate of barcoding identification was lower than interspecific ones, indicating a level of difficulty in barcoding individuals from different populations. However, it still provides an early insight into the pattern of genetic diversity within a species. OPEN RESEARCH BADGES: This article has been awarded an Open Data and Open Materials. All materials and data are publicly accessible via the Open Science Framework at https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.2df87g2. Learn more about the Open Practices badges from the Center for Open Science: https://osf.io/tvyxz/wiki.