# Preliminary Study on Host Use and Phylogenetic Analysis of Corethrella nippon in Taiwan

## TL;DR

A new trap for catching frog-biting flies in Taiwan was tested, revealing host preferences and new genetic insights into Corethrella nippon.

## Contribution

The first mitochondrial genome sequencing and phylogenetic analysis of Corethrella nippon, along with host preference data.

## Key findings

- The new frog-calling trap effectively collected both Culicidae and Corethrellidae species.
- Corethrella nippon was found to be attracted to calls from Odorrana swinhoana and Kurixalus eiffingeri at ~2200-2700 Hz.
- Phylogenetic analysis showed Corethrella nippon clustering with Corethrella condita and Culicidae grouping with Corethrellidae.

## Abstract

This study investigated frog‐biting dipteran species using newly designed frog‐calling traps in Taiwan. The trap effectively collected specimens from both families, Culicidae and Corethrellidae, demonstrating its utility. Host preference analysis revealed that
Odorrana swinhoana
(Boulenger, 1903) and
Kurixalus eiffingeri
(Boettger, 1895) were most frequently associated with collected specimens of Corethrellidae. Additionally, the corethrellids were predominantly attracted to a sound frequency around 2200 to 2700 Hz. Then, DNA barcoding was also conducted on the four collected species of Culicidae: Armigeres subalbatus (Coquillett, 1898), Uranotaenia nivipleura Leicester, 1908, Ur. macferlanei Edwards, 1914, and Mimomyia luzonensis (Ludlow, 1905), and the mitochondrial genome of Corethrella nippon Miyagi 1980 was first sequenced and annotated. Mitogenome‐based phylogenetic analysis confirmed that
C. nippon
formed a clade with Corethrella condita Borkent, 2008. In our analysis, family Corethrellidae clustered with Culicidae; however, the inter‐family phylogenetic relationships within Culicoidea appeared paraphyletic, particularly concerning family Chaoboridae. Future studies should explore a greater variety of frog species across more diverse regions and use other genomic datasets beyond the mitogenome to infer a more robust deep topology at the superfamily level and further broaden our understanding of host preference.

This study evaluated a new frog‐calling trap in Taiwan that successfully collected the species of Culicidae and Corethrellidae and identified host preferences, with Corethrellidae most frequently associated with
Odorrana swinhoana
and
Kurixalus eiffingeri
(mostly attracted to ~2022 Hz calls). We also DNA‐barcoded four collected culicid species and sequenced the complete mitochondrial genome of Corethrella nippon, whose phylogeny grouped it with C. condita. Mitogenome‐based analysis revealed a paraphyletic Culicoidea, grouped with Corethrellidae within Culicidae.