Wolbachia infection status and molecular diversity in the species of tribe Tagiadini Mabille, 1878 (Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae) collected in China

Wolbachia, one of the most ubiquitous heritable symbionts in lepidopteran insects, can cause mitochondrial introgression in related host species. We recently found mito‐nuclear discordance in the Lepidopteran tribe Tagiadini Mabille 1878 from which Wolbachia has not been reported. In this study, we found that 13 of the 46 species of Tagiadini species tested were positive for Wolbachia. Overall, 14% (15/110) of Tagiadini specimens were infected with Wolbachia and nine new STs were found from 15 isolates. A co‐phylogenetic comparison, divergence time estimation and Wolbachia recombination analysis revealed that mito‐nuclear discordance in Tagiadini species is not mediated by Wolbachia, but Wolbachia acquisition in Tagiadini appears to have occurred mainly through horizontal transmission rather than codivergence. A co‐phylogenetic comparison, divergence time estimation and Wolbachia recombination analysis revealed that mito‐nuclear discordance in Tagiadini species is not mediated by Wolbachia, but Wolbachia acquisition in Tagiadini appears to have occurred mainly through horizontal transmission rather than codivergence. An investigation of the molecular diversity of Wolbachia in Lepidoptera confirmed horizontal transmission as a common phenomenon at the inter‐specific, inter‐generic and inter‐familial levels, without discernible geographic patterns.