The Complete Mitochondrial Genome, Complete Nuclear rRNA Repeat, and Phylogenetic Analysis of the Ocellated Commodore Butterfly (Precis coelestina Dewitz, 1879) (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae: Junoniini)

The ocellated commodore butterfly Precis coelestina (Dewitz, 1879) (Nymphalidae: Junoniini) occurs in equatorial Africa. This species is not well-studied, but it is known to occur in secondary forests, forest margins, and clearings in hilly and semi-montane habitats in Guinea, Sierra Leone, Cameroun, Angola, Central African Republic, Congo, Uganda, western Kenya, southern Sudan, Ethiopia, and Somalia. Here, we report the first DNA sequence data of any kind available from this species. Genome skimming by Illumina sequencing allowed the assembly of a complete circular mitogenome of 15,363 bp from P. coelestina consisting of 80.9% AT nucleotides, 13 protein-coding genes, 22 tRNAs, 2 rRNAs, and a control region in the gene order typical found in butterflies. The P. coelestina mitochondrial COX1 gene features an atypical start codon (CGA), while COX1, COX2, ND2, ND4, ND5, and ATP6 display incomplete stop codons finished by the addition of a poly-A tail to the mRNA. The nuclear rRNA repeat sequence of 8,735 bp was also assembled and includes three rRNA subunits (2.8S, 18S, and 28S), two internal transcribed spacers (ITS1 and ITS2), and 5′ and 3′ non-transcribed spacers. Bayesian inference phylogenies from both the mitogenome and nuclear rRNA repeat data consistently position P. coelestina as the sister taxon to P. actia and P. archesia.