Abstract
Hycleus marcipoli is an agricultural pest that feeds on the flowers and leaves of leguminous plants, including Desmodium spp., as well as sweet potatoes. It exhibits hypermetamorphic development-an exceptionally complex life cycle shared by the genus and subfamily. Despite the availability of fragmented genomes of Hycleus, a high-quality, chromosome-level genome reference is not yet available for this diverse genus. To address this gap, we present the first chromosome-level genome assembly for H. marcipoli. The 111 Mb genome (scaffold N50: 10.22 Mb) was successfully anchored to 11 chromosomes, with repetitive elements accounting for 26.43% of the assembly. We annotated 13,357 protein-coding genes, achieving 98.80% BUSCO completeness. This high-quality genomic resource establishes a foundation for elucidating the olfactory and visual system modifications associated with metamorphic transitions, understanding the evolutionary drivers of rapid species diversification in Hycleus, and exploring novel targets for pest control.