Phylogenetic relationships among Bombycinae (Lepidoptera, Bombycoidea, and Bombycidae) based on mitochondrial genomes.

The subfamily Bombycinae Latreille, [1802] is an important silk-producing group, including well-known economical insects. Although there are many studies on the development of these economic insects, the relationships between genera/species of this subfamily are still unclear. Two data sets of mitochondrial genomes, 13 protein-coding genes (13PCGs) and 13PCGs-AA, were used to estimate phylogenetic relationships based on the maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference methods. The results strongly support the subfamily Bombycinae as a monophyletic group divided into two clades.