In this study, we sequenced the complete mitochondrial genome of Teinopalpus imperialis, which is a national butterfly of India, and a grade-II protected species in China. The complete mtDNA from T. imperialis was 15 299 base pairs in length and contained 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), 22 tRNA genes, two rRNA genes, and 401 bp non-coding region. The T. imperialis genes were highly similar to those of sequenced mitogenomes of other lepidopteran species in the order and orientation. Twelve PCGs (ND2, ATP8, ND3, COII, ATP6, COIII, ND4, ND4L, CytB, ND1, ND5, and ND6) start with a typical ATN codon, only the COI gene starts with CGA codon. Eight PCGs (ND2, COI, ATP8, ATP6, COIII, ND5, ND6, and Cyt B) terminate in the common stop codon TAA, three PCGs (ND4L, ND3, and ND1) terminate in the stop codon TAG, and two PCGs (COII and ND4) terminate in a single T residue. The phylogenetic relationships were reconstructed with the concatenated sequences of the 13 PCGs of the mitochondrial genome, and phylogenetic results showed that Danaidae, Satyridae, Libytheidae, Nymphalidae, Acraeidae, Pieridae, Hesperiidae, Riodinidae, and Lycaenidae are monophyletic clades.
Keywords: Teinopalpus imperialis; mitochondrial genome; phylogenetic relationship.