De Novo Genome Assembly, Genomic Features, and Comparative Analysis of the Sawfly Dentathalia scutellariae

Dentathalia scutellariae (Hymenoptera: Athaliidae) is a major pest of Scutellaria baicalensis, a plant of significant economic and medicinal value. To date, no genomic resources have been available for this species, limiting research into its biology and control. Here, we reported a genome assembly of D. scutellariae with high accuracy and contiguity, sequenced by PacBio HiFi long-read and MGI-Seq short-read methods. The genome assembly is 157.00 Mb in length with a contig N50 of 4.04 Mb. The complete BUSCO score was 98.8%. The genome contained 14.73 Mb of repetitive elements, representing 9.38% of the total genome size. We predicted 14,904 protein-coding genes, of which 12,327 genes were annotated functionally. Gene family analysis of D. scutellariae revealed 422 expanded and 113 contracted gene families. Notably, genes within expanded families were significantly enriched in retinol metabolism and drug metabolism-cytochrome P450 pathways. We present the first high-quality genome assembly of D. scutellariae, which serves as a foundational genomic resource. This dataset will facilitate future studies on the molecular basis of D. scutellariae's pest status, host adaptation, and the development of targeted control strategies.