Designing ultra conserved element (UCE) probe sets for the lacewings and its allies (Insecta: Neuropterida)

High-throughput sequencing and target enrichment provide a method for rapid and low-cost sequencing of genomic scale data and have led to the emergence of the new field of phylogenomics^1–3. Among target enrichment approaches, capturing ultra-conserved elements (UCE) has proven to be advantageous in recovering large quantities of phylogenetically informative data even from specimens with suboptimal DNA preservation (e.g. old, pinned insects)^2,4. Additionally, it is possible to develop UCE probe sets with minimal exemplar taxa, allowing us to solve recalcitrant nodes in the Tree of Life^1,4,5. Although several vertebrate lineages share UCE universal probe sets, for highly diverse organisms such as insects, universal probe sets are not sufficient to accurately recover data from phylogenetically distant lineages⁵. Non-model and minor orders of insects, such as neuropterids, still require probe sets, which would allow us to bring insights into their evolutionary relationships and key adaptations^2,5. The neuropterids comprise three orders: Raphidioptera, Megaloptera, and Neuroptera⁶, and many questions remain unanswered concerning their evolutionary history. For example, whether the ancestral habit of neuropterids was aquatic or terrestrial is still uncertain in the literature^6–8. In my research, I used available genome sequences from NCBI to identify and design a Neuropterida-specific probe set to target UCE loci. I used the phyluce pipeline³ following Faircloth⁹ workflow. Project outcomes will greatly contribute to our understanding of the evolutionary history of Neuropterida and provide novel tools for future work using UCE.