Chromosome-level genome assembly of the wasp Vespa mandarinia (Hymenoptera: Vespidae)

The wasp Vespa mandarinia raised in Yunnan Province of China exhibits a relatively large body size, potent toxicity, invasive potential, and ecological impacts. These characteristics are closely linked to its acute olfactory sensitivity, venom-aided predation, and flight capacity. However, the lack of high-quality genomic resources limits understanding of its adaptive evolution and invasive potential. In this study, DNBSEQ, Oxford Nanopore sequencing, and Hi-C sequencing were employed to sequence and assemble the genome of V. mandarinia. The assembled genome consisted of 25 chromosomes. The genome size was 191.80 Mb. The scaffold N50 was 9.20 Mb. The complete BUSCOs of genome was 99.5%. A total of 12,023 genes in the V. mandarinia genome were predicted and 11,541 genes (99.84%) were functionally annotated. V. mandarinia wasps showed high level of collinearity with V. velutina. The genome will provide valuable resources for understanding the evolution of wasp, also provide information for venom research on V. mandarinia.