Phylogenetic utility of nucleotide sequences of mitochondrial COI gene in Pentatomid bugs (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae)

In the present study, partial mitochondrial COI gene fragment of approximately 600 bp from seven species of family Pentatomidae collected from different localities of Northern India has been analysed. The data divulged an A + T content of 65.8% and an R value of 1.39. The COI sequences were added directly to Genbank, NCBI. The database analysis shows mean K2P divergence of 0.7% at intraspecific level and 13.5% at interspecific level, indicating a hierarchal increase in K2P mean divergence across different taxonomic levels.