Wolbachia infection and its relationship with mtDNA diversity in Hesperiinae (Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae)

Abstract

Wolbachia, a widespread facultative endosymbiont in arthropods, not only manipulates host reproduction but also influences the genetic diversity of mitochondrial DNA through maternal inheritance. Despite being extensively reported across various insect taxa, Wolbachia infection patterns remain poorly documented in the family Hesperiidae. In this study, we investigated Wolbachia infections in 21 species from 14 genera across six tribes of Hesperiinae, based on the amplification of five housekeeping genes ( gatB, coxA, hcpA, ftsZ , and fbpA ). Host phylogenies were reconstructed using concatenated datasets of mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I ( COI ) and cytochrome b ( Cytb ), together with the nuclear elongation factor 1-alpha ( EF-1α ), while population genetic analyses were performed on COI and Cytb . The results reveal an infection rate of approximately 61.9% at the species level and 58.33% at the individual level. Phylogenetic analysis indicates that nearly half of the infected samples belong to the A supergroup and cluster with strains previously linked to horizontal transmission. These findings suggest the possibility of cross-species transmission events, although direct evidence for horizontal transfer remains limited.