The complete mitochondrial genome of the pirate butterfly Catacroptera cloanthe (Stoll, 1781) (Insecta: Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae: Kallimini)

The pirate butterfly Catacroptera cloanthe (Stoll, 1781) (Nymphalidae: Kallimini) is a monotypic genus of butterfly that occupies grassland and savanna habitats in Sub-Saharan Africa, and exhibits seasonal variation. Genome skimming by Illumina sequencing allowed the assembly of a 78.8% AT-rich complete circular mitogenome of 15,204 bp from C. cloanthe. The mitogenome has a typical butterfly gene order consisting of 13 protein-coding genes, two rRNAs, 22 tRNAs, and a control region. Catacroptera cloanthe COX1 begins with an atypical CGA start codon, while COX2, ND3, ND4, and ND5 end with incomplete T or TA stop codons, completed by the addition of the poly-A tail during mRNA processing. Bayesian phylogenetic reconstruction placed Catacroptera cloanthe as sister to Mallika jacksoni in the monophyletic tribe Kallimini, which was consistent with previous phylogenetic hypotheses.