Dr. Li Zhu from the Natural History Museum of China (NHMC), in collaboration with Professor Yang Ding’s team from China Agricultural University, has determined and reported, for the first time, the complete mitochondrial genome of Bibio hordeiphagus.

Bibio hordeiphagus was first described by Chinese researchers in 1988, initially reported from the Xizang (Tibet) region, and is considered endemic to China. Since its original description, no further specimens had been collected until 2024, when numerous individuals were captured in Qinghai Province using Malaise traps. This study supplemented the original description with color photographs, determined the species’ mitochondrial genome, and performed a preliminary phylogenetic analysis of the suborder Bibionomorpha based on the assembled and annotated mitochondrial genome. The study also discussed higher-level phylogenetic relationships within the superfamily Bibionoidea from a mitochondrial genome perspective.

The results, published under the title “The complete mitochondrial genome of Bibio hordeiphagus Yang & Luo (Diptera: Bibionidae)” in the October 2025 issue of the internationally indexed SCI journal Mitochondrial DNA Part B, provide a scientific basis for phylogenetic analysis of higher-level groups within Bibionomorpha and offer valuable foundational data for the taxonomy and evolutionary study of Bibionidae in China.

Figure 1 Structure of the complete mitochondrial genome of Bibio hordeiphagus

Figure 2 Phylogenetic tree of the suborder Bibionomorpha based on mitochondrial genomes of 16 species