Abstract: 【Aim】 To explore the intergeneric and interspecific molecular and evolutionary relationships of Apaturinae. 【Methods】The complete mitochondrial genome of  Chitoria ulupi was determined and analyzed by using polymerase chain reaction amplification and prime walking．Based on nucleotide sequences of 13 protein coding genes （PCGs）, the phylogenetic tree of 38 lepidopteran species was constructed using maximum parsimony (MP) method. 【Results】 The results indicated that the complete mitochondrial genome of C. ulupi is a circular molecule of 15 279 nucleotides, including 13 protein coding genes, 22 tRNA genes, 2 rRNA genes and a 391 bp A+T-rich region. The arrangement of genes in C. ulupi  is consistent with the sequence of other closely related species. The mitochondrial genome of C. ulupi is biased toward a high A+T content (79.9％). All protein coding genes start with a typical ATN initiation codon, except that the COI starts with the CGA codon and the COII begins with the TTG codon. Majority of the 13 PCGs in C. ulupi have a complete termination codon (TAA or TAG), except for the COII and ND4 genes which have incomplete stop codons (T). All tRNAs show the classic clover-leaf structure, except that the dihydrouridine (DHU) arm of tRNA^Ser(AGN) forms a simple loop. The C. ulupi A+T-rich region contains some conserved structures including a structure combing the motif ATAGAA, 21 bp poly(T) stretch and a microsatellite (AT)n element, which is similar to those found in the mitogenomes of other related species. The results of phylogenetic tree showed that the phylogenetic relationship at the superfamily level is Tortricoidea＋(Papilionoidea＋(Pyraloidea＋(Noctuoidea＋Bombycoidea＋Geometroidea))), and within the Nymphalidae group,  C. ulupi is closely related with Timelaea maculate.【Conclusion】 The phylogenetic relationship of lepidopteran species based on molecular markers is basically consistent with the results of the traditional morphological classification.

Key words:  Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae, Chitoria ulupi, mitochondrial genome, phylogeny