The complete mitochondrial genomes of four “bee-killer” assassin bugs (Hemiptera: Reduviidae: Apiomerus) recovered using shallow whole-genome sequencing

<ns3:p> Background <ns3:italic>Apiomerus</ns3:italic> Hahn (“bee-killer” assassin bugs) is a Neotropical genus of Reduviidae with ecological importance as a group of predatory insects and notable morphological diversity. However, complete mitochondrial genome resources have not been available for this genus, limiting its representation in genomic databases and its reuse in comparative studies within Apiomerini and Harpactorinae. Methods We generated low-coverage whole-genome sequencing data from four specimens collected in Colombia and assembled and annotated the first complete mitochondrial genomes for <ns3:italic>Apiomerus</ns3:italic> taxa: <ns3:italic>Apiomerus</ns3:italic> sp., <ns3:italic>A. ochropterus</ns3:italic> , <ns3:italic>A. luctuosus</ns3:italic> , and <ns3:italic>A. nitidicollis.</ns3:italic> Genome annotation was performed using automated approaches followed by manual curation. Results The four mitochondrial genomes ranged from 13.6 to 17.0 kb and contained the typical insect mitochondrial gene complement of 13 protein-coding genes, 22 transfer RNAs, and 2 ribosomal RNAs. All assemblies were AT-rich and showed gene order broadly consistent with other reduviid mitogenomes. In <ns3:italic>Apiomerus</ns3:italic> sp., some annotations were retained as putative because boundaries for rrnL, rrnS, and trnV could not be resolved with confidence. A phylogenetic tree inferred from concatenated mitochondrial protein-coding genes recovered the four <ns3:italic>Apiomerus</ns3:italic> taxa as a monophyletic group, in which <ns3:italic>A. ochropterus</ns3:italic> and <ns3:italic>Apiomerus</ns3:italic> sp. formed a sister pair, <ns3:italic>A. nitidicollis</ns3:italic> was sister to that clade, and <ns3:italic>A. luctuosus</ns3:italic> occupied the basal position among the sampled <ns3:italic>Apiomerus</ns3:italic> taxa. Data summary These assemblies provide the first mitochondrial genome resources for <ns3:italic>Apiomerus</ns3:italic> and expand the genomic representation of Apiomerini in public databases. The genome sequences, annotations, and accompanying tree resource provide reusable data for future work on comparative mitogenomics, taxonomy, species identification, and phylogenetic studies in Reduviidae. </ns3:p>