As the second largest order of Insecta, Lepidoptera is an important component of the ecosystems. However, there are few data on the mitochondrial genomes of Saturniidae. Here, the complete mitochondrial genome of Cricula andrei was sequenced and characterized. It was 15,324 bp in length, containing 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), 22 tRNAs, 2 rRNAs and a control region (AT-rich region). The control region had an AT content of 90.40%, and the conserved ATAGA sequence guided a 19 bp poly-T. Amino acid composition analysis showed that Ile, Leu, Phe and Asn were the most frequent amino acids, and codon usage analysis revealed a preference for A/U-ending codons. Phylogenetic trees constructed by Bayesian inference and Maximum likelihood methods indicated that C. andrei is grouped with C. trifenestrata and supported the current taxonomic placement of Cricula within the family. The enrichment of the mitochondrial genome database of Lepidoptera will help to better understand the genetic and evolutionary relationships of lepidopteran populations, as well as related taxonomic issues.
Meng et al. (Tue,) studied this question.