Complete mitochondrial genome of Spodoptera littoralis (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) from Egypt

The polyphagous cotton leafworm (Spodoptera littoralis) is one of the most destructive herbivorous insects worldwide. The present study reports the complete mitochondrial genome of S. littoralis collected from Egypt. The circular-mapping mitogenome was 15,408 bp in length with an overall A + T content of 81.1%, encoding a common set of 37 genes, including 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), 22 tRNA genes, and two rRNA genes. Most PCGs were found to use conventional ATN as the start codon and TAN as the stop codon. The phylogenetic tree based on the nucleic acid sequences of 13 shared PCGs of 29 Noctuidae species revealed that S. littoralis and Spodoptera litura are sister species. The data in this study will be helpful to understand geographical genetic variations, phylogenetic relationships, and species identification of S. littoralis.