A chromosomal-level genome assembly of Trichogramma chilonis Ishii, 1941 (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae)

Trichogramma spp. is a genus of minute egg parasitoids frequently used in agricultural pest management that can feed on the eggs of various lepidopteran pests. Currently, there is a scarcity of high-quality genomic resources for this category of tiny parasitoids, which impedes our comprehension of the population evolution and parasitic ecology of this collective. In this case, a chromosome-level genome of Trichogramma chilonis was produced by integrating PacBio HiFi, Illumina, and Hi-C data. The genome size totals 202.48 Mb, with a scaffold N50 length of 40.00 Mb. A total of 98.59% (199.63 Mb) of contigs were effectively mapped onto five chromosomes. The BUSCO assessment revealed that the genome assembly achieved 98.1% (n = 1,367) completeness, with 95% representing single-copy BUSCOs and 3.1% duplicated BUSCOs. Also, the genome comprises 24.16% (48.91 Mb) repeat elements and 12,163 predicted protein-coding genes. The high-quality genome of T. chilonis presented in this study offers an invaluable asset for elucidating its evolutionary path and ecological interactions.