In this study, complete mitochondrial genomes of nine species representing three tribes in the subfamily Pyrginae sensu lato were newly sequenced. The mitogenomes are closed double-stranded circular molecules, with the length ranging from 15,232 bp to 15,559 bp, which all encode 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), two ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes, 22 transfer RNA (tRNA) genes, and a control region. The orientation and gene order of these nine mitogenomes are identical to the inferred ancestral arrangement of insects. All PCGs exhibit the typical start codon ATN except for cox1 (using CGA) and cox2 (using TTG) in Mooreana trichoneura. Most of the PCGs terminate with a TAA stop codon, while cox1, cox2, nad4, and nad5 end with the incomplete codon single T. For the different datasets, we found that the one comprising all 37 genes of mitogenome produced the highest nodal support, indicating that the inclusion of RNAs improves the phylogenetic signal. This study re-confirmed the status of Capila, Pseudocoladenia and Sarangesa, namely Capila belongs to the tribe Tagiadini, and Pseudocoladenia and Sarangesa to the tribe Celaenorrhini. Diagnostic characters distinguishing the two tribes, the length of the forewing cell and labial palpi, are no longer significant. Two population of Pseudocoladenia dan fabia from China and Myanmar and P. dan dhyana from Thailand are confirmed conspecific.

The mitochondrial genome is now widely used in the study of the phylogenetics and molecular evolution due to its maternal inheritance, fast evolutionary rate and highly conserved gene content. To explore the phylogenetic relationships of the tribe Aeromachini within the subfamily Hesperiinae at the mitochondrial genomics level, we sequenced and annotated the complete mitogenomes of 3 skippers: Amipittia virgata, Halpe nephele and Onryza maga. All of these mitogenomes are double-stranded and have circular molecules with a total length of 15,333 bp, 15,291 bp and 15,381 bp, respectively. The mitogenomes all contain 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), 22 transfer RNAs (tRNAs), 2 ribosomal RNAs (rRNAs) and a non-coding AT-rich region, and are consistent with other lepidopterans in gene order and type. In addition, we reconstruted the phylogenetic trees of Hesperiinae using maximum likelihood (ML) and Bayesian inference (BI) methods based on mitogenomic data. Results show that the 3 Aeromachini species in this study robustly constitute a monophyletic group in the subfamily Hesperiinae, with the relationships Coeliadinae + (Euschemoninae + ((Pyrginae + (Eudaminae + Tagiadinae)) + (Heteropterinae + (Barcinae + Hesperiinae)))). Moreover, our study supports the view that Apostictopterus fuliginosus and Barca bicolor should be placed out of the subfamily Hesperiinae.