Evolution of Odonata: genomic insights

Odonata is an order of insects that comprises ∼6500 species. They are among the earliest flying insects, and one of the first diverging lineages in the Pterygota. Odonate evolution has been a topic of research for over 100 years, with studies focusing primarily on their flight behavior, color, vision, and aquatic juvenile lifestyles. Recent genomics studies have provided new interpretations about the evolution of these traits. In this paper, we look at how high-throughput sequence data (i.e. subgenomic and genomic data) have been used to answer long-standing questions in Odonata ranging from evolutionary relationships to vision evolution to flight behavior. Additionally, we evaluate these data at multiple taxonomic levels (i.e. ordinal, familial, generic, and population) and provide comparative analysis of genomes across Odonata, identifying features of these new data. Last, we discuss the next two years of Odonata genomic study, with context about what questions are currently being tackled. •Most Odonate studies using -omics approaches have focused on systematics.•Recent transcriptomic work has converged on a tree of life for Odonata.•Eight genomes exist for dragonflies and damselflies, few are fully annotated.•Functional and population genomics are areas for future work in Odonata.