Abstract: 【Aim】 This study aims to sequence and analyze the complete mitochondrial genome of Zele chlorophthalmus, and to explore the molecular phylogenetic relationship of some groups within Braconidae. 【Methods】 Using Illumina MiSeq sequencing technique, the mitochondrial genome of Z. chlorophthalmus was sequenced, the genome sequences were assembled, annotated and characterized, and then the general features and base composition of the mitochondrial genome were analyzed. To analyze the phylogenetic relationships of Z. chlorophthalmus and other species of Braconidae, the phylogenetic trees of 22 Braconidae species based on mitochondrial COX1 gene sequences were constructed by using maximun likelihood (ML) and neighbor-joining (NJ) methods. 【Results】 The mitochondrial genome of Z. chlorophthalmus (GenBank accession no.: MG822749) is 16 661 bp in length, and contains 37 genes including 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), 22 tRNA genes and 2 ribosomal RNA genes, and one control region (CR). The mitochondrial genome has a clear bias in nucleotide composition with a positive AT-skew and a negative GC-skew, with the A+T content of 82.83%. The mitochondrial gene arrangement of Z. chlorophthalmus is not completely consistent with that of the putative ancestral sequence of insects, and there are seven gene rearrangements in its tRNA genes. All the 13 PCCs start with an ATN initiation codon and terminate with a TAA stop condon. All the predicted tRNA genes show the classic clover-leaf secondary structure, except that tRNA^His(H) has no TΨC loop and tRNA^Cys(C) only has dihydorouridine arm and anticodon arm. The results of phylogenetic analysis based on the COX1 coding sequence showed that Z. chlorophthalmus had the closest relationship with Z. niveitarsis, which also belongs to the genus Zele. 【Conclusion】 We firstly sequenced and analyzed the complete mitochondrial genome of Z. chlorophthalmus. The results show that Z. chlorophthalmus belongs to Euphorinae and support the monophyly of Zele.

Key words: Braconidae, Euphorinae; Zele chlorophthalmus; mitochondrial genome, phylogeny