Transcriptomic analysis of masked birch caterpillars, Drepana arcuata (Lepidoptera: Drepanoidea)

Social grouping is widespread among larval insects, particularly in the order Lepidoptera with species exhibiting grouping either throughout or through a part of larval development. Our study provides larval transcriptome for one such Lepidopteran species, Drepana arcuata (Lepidoptera: Drepanoidea), commonly known as masked birch caterpillars that transition from social grouping in early instars to solitary living in late instars. The main goal of our study is to conduct the larval transcriptomic analysis of D. arcuata using RNA sequencing data from socially grouping early instars and solitary late instars to understand the gene expression associated with this developmental shift from social to solitary instars. This study provides the first ever transcriptomic resources for any species within the superfamily Drepanoidea of the insect order Lepidoptera, an order that comprises of a large number of economically and ecologically important species. Also, this study provides insights into the genetic underpinnings of sociality in larval insects by analysing the transcriptomic shift associated with behavioural shift from social to solitary and identifying the candidate social genes that have been implicated in mediating sociality in other organisms.