Testing the systematic status of Homalictus and Rostrohalictus with weakened cross-vein groups within Halictini (Hymenoptera: Halictidae) using low-coverage whole-genome sequencing.

The halictid genus Lasioglossum, as one of the most species-rich bee groups with persistently contentious subgeneric boundaries, is one of the most challenging bee groups from a systematic standpoint. An enduring question is the relationship of Lasioglossum and Homalictus, whether all halictine bees with weakened distal wing venation comprise one or multiple genera. Here, we analyzed the phylogenetic relationships among the subgroups within Lasioglossum s.l. based on thousands of single-copy orthologs and ultraconserved elements, which were extracted from 23 newly sequenced low-coverage whole genomes alongside a published genome (22 ingroups plus 2 outgroups). Both marker sets provided consistent results across maximum likelihood and coalescent-based species tree approaches. The phylogenetic and topology test results show that the Lasioglossum and Hemihalictus series are reciprocally monophyletic and Homalictus and Rostrohalictus are valid subgenera of Lasioglossum. Consequently, we lower Homalictus to subgenus status within Lasioglossum again, and we also raise Rostrohalictus to subgenus status from its prior synonymy with subgenus Hemihalictus. Lasioglossum przewalskyi is also transferred to the subgenus Hemihalictus. Ultimately, we redefine Lasioglossum to include all halictine bees with weakened distal wing venation.

Review of the bee genus Pseudoanthidium Friese, 1898 (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Megachilidae: Anthidiini) of China with descriptions of three new species.

The carder bee genus Pseudoanthidium Friese, 1898, is revised from China. Eight species are confirmed to occur in China, including three new species: Pseudoanthidium (Pseudoanthidium) yanruae Niu Zhu, sp. nov., P. (P.) kunesense Niu Zhu, sp. nov., P. (P.) chenggongense Niu Zhu, sp. nov. There is also one new generic assignment and synonymy: Anthidium kryzhanovskii Wu, 1962 is a junior synonym of P. (P.) orientale (Bingham, 1897). Pseudoanthidium (P.) campulodonta (Wu, 1990) is synonymized with P. (P.) tenellum (Mocsry, 1880). Here we provide descriptions for the three new species and an illustrated key to the known Chinese Pseudoanthidium.

The complete mitochondrial genome of Choristoneura longicellana (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) and phylogenetic analysis of Lepidoptera.

To better understand the diversity and phylogeny of Lepidoptera, the complete mitochondrial genome of Choristoneura longicellana (=Hoshinoa longicellana) was determined. It is a typical circular duplex molecule with 15,759bp in length, containing the standard metazoan set of 13 protein-coding genes, 22 transfer RNA genes, 2 ribosomal RNA genes, and an A+T-rich region. All of the inferred tRNA secondary structures show the common cloverleaf pattern, with the exception of trnS1(AGN), which lacks the DHU arm. The rrnL of C. Longicellana is the longest in sequenced lepidopterans. C. Longicellana has the same gene order as all lepidopteran species currently available in GenBank. There are 5 overlapping regions ranging from 1bp to 8bp and 14 intergenic spacers ranging from 1bp to 48bp. In addition, there are four similar tandem macro-satellite regions with the lengths of 101bp, 98bp, 92bp, and 92bp respectively in the A+T-rich regions of C. longicellana. We sampled 89 species representing 13 superfamilies, and reconstructed their relationship among Lepidoptera by Bayesian Inference and Maximum Likelihood analysis. The topology of the two phylogenetic analysis trees is identical roughly, except for Cossoidea in different locations, the positions of Cossoidea, Copromorphoidea, Gelechioidea, Zygaenoidea were not determined based the limited sampling. (Geometroidea+(Noctuoidea+Bombycoidea)) form the Macrolepidoptera "core". Pyraloidea group with the "core" Macrolepidoptera. Papilionoidea are not Macrolepidoptera. The Hesperiidae (represent Hesperioidea) is nested in the Papilionoidea, and closely related to Pieridae and Papilionidae. The well-known relationship of (Nymphalidae+(Riodinidae+Lycaenidae)) is recovered in this paper.

Revision of the Anthidiellum Cockerell, 1904 of China (Hymenoptera, Apoidea, Megachilidae, Anthidiini).

The resin bees of the genus Anthidiellum Cockerell, 1904 are revised for China. Seven species are confirmed to occur in China including five new combinations: A. (Pycnanthidium) carinatum (Wu, 1962) comb. nov., A. (P.) coronum (Wu, 2004a) comb. nov., A. (P.) latipes (Bingham, 1897) comb. nov., A. (Clypanthidium) popovii (Wu, 1962) comb. nov., and A. (Anthidiellum) yunnanensis (Wu, 1962) comb. nov.. These five species had previously been classified as Trachusa (Paraanthidium), which is characterized by much larger-bodied bees (only four species of Trachusa (Paraanthidium) are confirmed to occur in China after this study; others reported in the literature were misplaced to genus). Additionally, Anthidiellum ludingensis Wu, 1993, and Anthidiellum (Anthidiellum) xinjiangensis Wu, 2004b, are removed from Anthidiellum forming the new combinations Pseudoanthidium (Pseudoanthidium) ludingense (Wu, 1993) and P. (P.) xinjiangense (Wu, 2004b), thus extending the range of the genus in China to include Sichuan. Illustrations and a key to known Chinese Anthidiellum species are provided.

Characterization of the complete mitochondrion genome of diurnal Moth Amata emma (Butler) (Lepidoptera: Erebidae) and its phylogenetic implications.

Mitogenomes can provide information for phylogenetic analyses and evolutionary biology. The complete mitochondrial genome of Amata emma (Lepidoptera: Erebidae) was sequenced and analyzed in the study. The circular genome is 15,463 bp in size, with the gene content, orientation and order identical to other ditrysian insects. The genome composition of the major strand shows highly A+T biased and exhibits negative AT-skew and GC-skew. The initial codons are the canonical putative start codons ATN with the exception of cox1 gene which uses CGA instead. Ten genes share complete termination codons TAA, and three genes use incomplete stop codons TA or T. Additionally, the codon distribution and Relative Synonymous Codon Usage of the 13 PCGs in the A. emma mitogenome are consistent with those in other Noctuid mitogenomes. All tRNA genes have typical cloverleaf secondary structures, except for the trnS1 (AGN) gene, in which the dihydrouridine (DHU) arm is simplified down to a loop. The secondary structures of two rRNA genes broadly conform with the models proposed for these genes of other Lepidopteran insects. Except for the A+T-rich region, there are three major intergenic spacers, spanning at least 10 bp and five overlapping regions. There are obvious differences in the A+T-rich region between A. emma and other Lepidopteran insects reported previously except that the A+T-rich region contains an 'ATAGA' -like motif followed by a 19 bp poly-T stretch and a (AT)9 element preceded by the 'ATTTA' motif. It neither has a poly-A (in the α strand) upstream trnM nor potential stem-loop structures and just has some simple structures like (AT)nGTAT. The phylogenetic relationships based on nucleotide sequences of 13 PCGs using Bayesian inference and maximum likelihood methods provided a well-supported a broader outline of Lepidoptera and which agree with the traditional morphological classification and recently working, but with a much higher support.

The complete mitochondrial genome of the rice moth, Corcyra cephalonica.

The complete mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) of the rice moth, Corcyra cephalonica Stainton (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) was determined as a circular molecular of 15,273 bp in size. The mitogenome composition (37 genes) and gene order are the same as the other lepidopterans. Nucleotide composition of the C. cephalonica mitogenome is highly A+T biased (80.43%) like other insects. Twelve protein-coding genes start with a typical ATN codon, with the exception of coxl gene, which uses CGA as the initial codon. Nine protein-coding genes have the common stop codon TAA, and the nad2, cox1, cox2, and nad4 have single T as the incomplete stop codon. 22 tRNA genes demonstrated cloverleaf secondary structure. The mitogenome has several large intergenic spacer regions, the spacer1 between trnQ gene and nad2 gene, which is common in Lepidoptera. The spacer 3 between trnE and trnF includes microsatellite-like repeat regions (AT)18 and (TTAT)(3). The spacer 4 (16 bp) between trnS2 gene and nad1 gene has a motif ATACTAT; another species, Sesamia inferens encodes ATCATAT at the same position, while other lepidopteran insects encode a similar ATACTAA motif. The spacer 6 is A+T rich region, include motif ATAGA and a 20-bp poly(T) stretch and two microsatellite (AT)(9), (AT)(8) elements.

Topological and functional characterization of an insect gustatory receptor.

Insect gustatory receptors are predicted to have a seven-transmembrane structure and are distantly related to insect olfactory receptors, which have an inverted topology compared with G-protein coupled receptors, including mammalian olfactory receptors. In contrast, the topology of insect gustatory receptors remains unknown. Except for a few examples from Drosophila, the specificity of individual insect gustatory receptors is also unknown. In this study, the total number of identified gustatory receptors in Bombyx mori was expanded from 65 to 69. BmGr8, a silkmoth gustatory receptor from the sugar receptor subfamily, was expressed in insect cells. Membrane topology studies on BmGr8 indicate that, like insect olfactory receptors, it has an inverted topology relative to G protein-coupled receptors. An orphan GR from the bitter receptor family, BmGr53, yielded similar results. We infer, from the finding that two distantly related BmGrs have an intracellular N-terminus and an odd number of transmembrane spans, that this is likely to be a general topology for all insect gustatory receptors. We also show that BmGr8 functions independently in Sf9 cells and responds in a concentration-dependent manner to the polyalcohols myo-inositol and epi-inositol but not to a range of mono- and di-saccharides. BmGr8 is the first chemoreceptor shown to respond specifically to inositol, an important or essential nutrient for some Lepidoptera. The selectivity of BmGr8 responses is consistent with the known responses of one of the gustatory receptor neurons in the lateral styloconic sensilla of B. mori, which responds to myo-inositol and epi-inositol but not to allo-inositol.

The complete mitochondrial genome of Spilonota lechriaspis Meyrick (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae).

We determined the nucleotide sequence of the mitochondrial genome (mtgenome) of Spilonota lechriaspis Meyrick (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae). The entire closed circular molecule is 15,368 bp and contains 37 genes with the typical gene complement and order for lepidopteran mtgenomes. All tRNAs except tRNASer(AGN) can be folded into the typical cloverleaf secondary structures. The protein-coding genes (PCGs) have typical mitochondrial start codons, with the exception of COI, which uses the unusual CGA one as is found in all other Lepidoptera sequenced to date. In addition, six of 13 PCGs harbor the incomplete termination codons, a single T. The A+T-rich region contains some conserved structures that are similar to those found in other lepidopteran mtgenomes, including a structure combining the motif 'ATAGA', a 19-bp poly(T) stretch and three microsatellite (AT)n elements which are part of larger 122+ bp macrorepeats. This is the first report of macrorepeats in a lepidopteran mtgenome.