Genome report: Genome sequence of the hibiscus mealybug, Nipaecoccus viridis (Newstead), an invasive pest of citrus

Abstract

Mealybugs are frequently known for being pest insects to both ornamental and large-scale agricultural crops. Yet despite their agricultural importance, the genomic resources for this group remain quite small. One such species is the hibiscus mealybug, Nipaecoccus viridis (Newstead) (Hemiptera: Coccomorpha: Pseudococcidae). This invasive mealybug species has recently expanded throughout Florida and has spread across the state. Genomic resources would provide a new means to better understand the invasive nature of this insect, and thus, we present the de novo genome assembly for Nipaecoccus viridis. Our genome assembly is 289 Mb, in which 91.2% of this sequence assembled into 5 chromosomal scaffolds. We report 15,370 genes to be present within our genome. We found that repetitive elements in the genome accounted for 32.40% of the sequence. These statistics follow similar trends to other previously sequenced pseudococcid species.