Abstract
We present a genome assembly from an individual female Chrysops viduatus (Square-spot Deerfly; Arthropoda; Insecta; Diptera; Tabanidae). The genome sequence has a total length of 312.35 megabases. Most of the assembly (87.6%) is scaffolded into 5 chromosomal pseudomolecules. The mitochondrial genome has also been assembled, with a length of 16.08 kilobases. This assembly was generated as part of the Darwin Tree of Life project, which produces reference genomes for eukaryotic species found in Britain and Ireland.
Keywords: Chrysops viduatus; Square-spot Deerfly; genome sequence; chromosomal; Diptera
Species taxonomy
Eukaryota; Opisthokonta; Metazoa; Eumetazoa; Bilateria; Protostomia; Ecdysozoa; Panarthropoda; Arthropoda; Mandibulata; Pancrustacea; Hexapoda; Insecta; Dicondylia; Pterygota; Neoptera; Endopterygota; Diptera; Brachycera; Tabanomorpha; Tabanoidea; Tabanidae; Chrysopsinae; Chrysopsini; Chrysops; Chrysops viduatus (Fabricius, 1794) (NCBI:txid798133)
Background
Chrysops viduatus (Fabricius, 1794) is one of the medium-sized (7–10 mm) banded-winged species of horseflies (Tabanidae) and is commonly referred to as the Square-spot Deerfly. Both males and females have colourful eye patterns, with the eyes meeting at the top in the males, and the sexes have further differences in their abdominal patterns. Both the wing and the abdominal markings are used for identifications ( Stubbs & Drake, 2014).
This species is widely distributed across the Palaearctic region, but is concentrated in wetter habitats such as wet woodlands, mires and wet meadows. In the UK, most of the records are from south of the Severn-Wash line, with the Dorset Heath and the New Forest being particularly good locations ( Soldierflies and Allies Recording Scheme, 2025).
The small, oblong eggs are attached to the vegetation overhanging water bodies, and larvae develop in mud or sandy substrate at the edge of these. Unusually for horseflies, these larvae, whose development may take up to a year, are not carnivorous but have a diet predominately of decaying vegetation ( Burger, 1977). The pupal stage of the genus is shorter than the other genera, again below ground. Adults can be seen from June to August (with a few outliers), with the females taking a blood meal from large mammals, humans included, for egg development. Males, and when not blood feeding, females feed on nectar and pollen, and some species are important pollinators although more research is needed ( Johnson, 2025).
Only two genomes are available for the family Tabanidae, both of them for the genus Chrysops as of August 2025 (data obtained via NCBI datasets, O’Leary et al., 2024). We present a chromosome-level genome sequence for Chrysops viduatus, the Square-spot Deerfly. The assembly was produced using the Tree of Life pipeline from a specimen collected in Buxton Heath, England, UK ( Figure 1). This assembly was generated as part of the Darwin Tree of Life Project, which aims to generate high-quality reference genomes for all named eukaryotic species in Britain and Ireland to support research, conservation, and the sustainable use of biodiversity ( Darwin Tree of Life Project Consortium, 2022).
Figure 1. Photograph of the Chrysops viduatus (idChrVidu2) specimen used for genome sequencing.
Methods
Sample acquisition and DNA barcoding
The specimen used for genome sequencing was an adult female Chrysops viduatus (specimen ID NHMUK015059108, ToLID idChrVidu2; Figure 1), collected from Buxton Heath, England, United Kingdom (latitude 52.75, longitude 1.22) on 2022-07-04. The specimen was collected by Erica McAlister and identified by Ryan Mitchell. A second specimen was used for Hi-C sequencing (specimen ID NHMUK014036858, ToLID idChrVidu1). It was collected from Parsonage Moor, Abington, England, United Kingdom (latitude 51.6942, longitude –1.3344) on 2021-06-19. This specimen was collected by Ryan Mitchell and Olga Sivell and identified by Judith Webb. For the Darwin Tree of Life sampling and metadata approach, refer to Lawniczak et al.(2022).
The initial identification was verified by an additional DNA barcoding process according to the framework developed by Twyford et al. (2024). A small sample was dissected from the specimen and stored in ethanol, while the remaining parts were shipped on dry ice to the Wellcome Sanger Institute (WSI) (see the protocol). The tissue was lysed, the COI marker region was amplified by PCR, and amplicons were sequenced and compared to the BOLD database, confirming the species identification ( Crowley et al., 2023). Following whole genome sequence generation, the relevant DNA barcode region was also used alongside the initial barcoding data for sample tracking at the WSI ( Twyford et al., 2024). The standard operating procedures for Darwin Tree of Life barcoding are available on protocols.io.
Nucleic acid extraction
Protocols for high molecular weight (HMW) DNA extraction developed at the Wellcome Sanger Institute (WSI) Tree of Life Core Laboratory are available on protocols.io ( Howard et al., 2025). The idChrVidu2 sample was weighed and triaged to determine the appropriate extraction protocol. Tissue from the whole organism was homogenised by powermashing using a PowerMasher II tissue disruptor.
HMW DNA was extracted in the WSI Scientific Operations core using the Automated MagAttract v2 protocol. DNA was sheared into an average fragment size of 12–20 kb following the Megaruptor®3 for LI PacBio protocol. Sheared DNA was purified by manual SPRI (solid-phase reversible immobilisation). The concentration of the sheared and purified DNA was assessed using a Nanodrop spectrophotometer and Qubit Fluorometer using the Qubit dsDNA High Sensitivity Assay kit. Fragment size distribution was evaluated by running the sample on the FemtoPulse system. For this sample, the final post-shearing DNA had a Qubit concentration of 34.03 ng/μL and a yield of 1 599.41 ng, with a fragment size of 14.1 kb.
PacBio HiFi library preparation and sequencing
Library preparation and sequencing were performed at the WSI Scientific Operations core. Libraries were prepared using the SMRTbell Prep Kit 3.0 (Pacific Biosciences, California, USA), following the manufacturer’s instructions. The kit includes reagents for end repair/A-tailing, adapter ligation, post-ligation SMRTbell bead clean-up, and nuclease treatment. Size selection and clean-up were performed using diluted AMPure PB beads (Pacific Biosciences). DNA concentration was quantified using a Qubit Fluorometer v4.0 (ThermoFisher Scientific) and the Qubit 1X dsDNA HS assay kit. Final library fragment size was assessed with the Agilent Femto Pulse Automated Pulsed Field CE Instrument (Agilent Technologies) using the gDNA 55 kb BAC analysis kit.
The sample was sequenced on a Revio instrument (Pacific Biosciences). The prepared library was normalised to 2 nM, and 15 μL was used for making complexes. Primers were annealed and polymerases bound to generate circularised complexes, following the manufacturer’s instructions. Complexes were purified using 1.2X SMRTbell beads, then diluted to the Revio loading concentration (200–300 pM) and spiked with a Revio sequencing internal control. The sample was sequenced on a Revio 25M SMRT cell. The SMRT Link software (Pacific Biosciences), a web-based workflow manager, was used to configure and monitor the run and to carry out primary and secondary data analysis.
Hi-C
Sample preparation and crosslinking
The Hi-C sample was prepared from 20–50 mg of frozen tissue from the idChrVidu1 sample using the Arima-HiC v2 kit (Arima Genomics). Following the manufacturer’s instructions, tissue was fixed and DNA crosslinked using TC buffer to a final formaldehyde concentration of 2%. The tissue was homogenised using the Diagnocine Power Masher-II. Crosslinked DNA was digested with a restriction enzyme master mix, biotinylated, and ligated. Clean-up was performed with SPRISelect beads before library preparation. DNA concentration was measured with the Qubit Fluorometer (Thermo Fisher Scientific) and Qubit HS Assay Kit. The biotinylation percentage was estimated using the Arima-HiC v2 QC beads.
Hi-C library preparation and sequencing
Biotinylated DNA constructs were fragmented using a Covaris E220 sonicator and size selected to 400–600 bp using SPRISelect beads. DNA was enriched with Arima-HiC v2 kit Enrichment beads. End repair, A-tailing, and adapter ligation were carried out with the NEBNext Ultra II DNA Library Prep Kit (New England Biolabs), following a modified protocol where library preparation occurs while DNA remains bound to the Enrichment beads. Library amplification was performed using KAPA HiFi HotStart mix and a custom Unique Dual Index (UDI) barcode set (Integrated DNA Technologies). Depending on sample concentration and biotinylation percentage determined at the crosslinking stage, libraries were amplified with 10–16 PCR cycles. Post-PCR clean-up was performed with SPRISelect beads. Libraries were quantified using the AccuClear Ultra High Sensitivity dsDNA Standards Assay Kit (Biotium) and a FLUOstar Omega plate reader (BMG Labtech).
Prior to sequencing, libraries were normalised to 10 ng/μL. Normalised libraries were quantified again and equimolar and/or weighted 2.8 nM pools were created. Pool concentrations were checked using the Agilent 4200 TapeStation (Agilent) with High Sensitivity D500 reagents before sequencing. Sequencing was performed using paired-end 150 bp reads on the Illumina NovaSeq 6000.
Genome assembly
Prior to assembly of the PacBio HiFi reads, a database of k-mer counts ( k = 31) was generated from the filtered reads using FastK. GenomeScope2 ( Ranallo-Benavidez et al., 2020) was used to analyse the k-mer frequency distributions, providing estimates of genome size, heterozygosity, and repeat content.
The HiFi reads were assembled using Hifiasm ( Cheng et al., 2021) with the --primary option. Haplotypic duplications were identified and removed using purge_dups ( Guan et al., 2020). The Hi-C reads ( Rao et al., 2014) were mapped to the primary contigs using bwa-mem2 ( Vasimuddin et al., 2019), and the contigs were scaffolded in YaHS ( Zhou et al., 2023) with the --break option for handling potential misassemblies. The scaffolded assemblies were evaluated using Gfastats ( Formenti et al., 2022), BUSCO ( Manni et al., 2021) and MERQURY.FK ( Rhie et al., 2020).
The mitochondrial genome was assembled using MitoHiFi ( Uliano-Silva et al., 2023), which runs MitoFinder ( Allio et al., 2020) and uses these annotations to select the final mitochondrial contig and to ensure the general quality of the sequence.
Assembly curation
The assembly was decontaminated using the Assembly Screen for Cobionts and Contaminants ( ASCC) pipeline. TreeVal was used to generate the flat files and maps for use in curation. Manual curation was conducted primarily in PretextView and HiGlass ( Kerpedjiev et al., 2018). Scaffolds were visually inspected and corrected as described by Howe et al. (2021). Manual corrections included 11 breaks, 28 joins, and removal of two haplotypic duplications. The curation process is documented at https://gitlab.com/wtsi-grit/rapid-curation. PretextSnapshot was used to generate a Hi-C contact map of the final assembly.
Assembly quality assessment
The Merqury.FK tool ( Rhie et al., 2020) was run in a Singularity container ( Kurtzer et al., 2017) to evaluate k-mer completeness and assembly quality for the primary and alternate haplotypes using the k-mer databases ( k = 31) computed prior to genome assembly. The analysis outputs included assembly QV scores and completeness statistics.
The genome was analysed using the BlobToolKit pipeline, a Nextflow implementation of the earlier Snakemake version ( Challis et al., 2020). The pipeline aligns PacBio reads using minimap2 ( Li, 2018) and SAMtools ( Danecek et al., 2021) to generate coverage tracks. It runs BUSCO ( Manni et al., 2021) using lineages identified from the NCBI Taxonomy ( Schoch et al., 2020). For the three domain-level lineages, BUSCO genes are aligned to the UniProt Reference Proteomes database ( Bateman et al., 2023) using DIAMOND blastp ( Buchfink et al., 2021). The genome is divided into chunks based on the density of BUSCO genes from the closest taxonomic lineage, and each chunk is aligned to the UniProt Reference Proteomes database with DIAMOND blastx. Sequences without hits are chunked using seqtk and aligned to the NT database with blastn ( Altschul et al., 1990). The BlobToolKit suite consolidates all outputs into a blobdir for visualisation. The BlobToolKit pipeline was developed using nf-core tooling ( Ewels et al., 2020) and MultiQC ( Ewels et al., 2016), with containerisation through Docker ( Merkel, 2014) and Singularity ( Kurtzer et al., 2017).
Genome sequence report
Sequence data
PacBio sequencing of the Chrysops viduatus specimen generated 39.60 Gb (gigabases) from 3.93 million reads, which were used to assemble the genome. GenomeScope2.0 analysis estimated the haploid genome size at 221.10 Mb, with a heterozygosity of 0.81% and repeat content of 27.47% ( Figure 2). These estimates guided expectations for the assembly. Based on the estimated genome size, the sequencing data provided approximately 170× coverage. Hi-C sequencing produced 143.50 Gb from 950.34 million reads, which were used to scaffold the assembly. Table 1 summarises the specimen and sequencing details.
Figure 2. Frequency distribution of k-mers generated using GenomeScope2.
The plot shows observed and modelled k-mer spectra, providing estimates of genome size, heterozygosity, and repeat content based on unassembled sequencing reads.
Table 1. Specimen and sequencing data for BioProject PRJEB67427.
| Platform | PacBio HiFi | Hi-C |
|---|---|---|
| ToLID | idChrVidu2 | idChrVidu1 |
| Specimen ID | NHMUK015059108 | NHMUK014036858 |
| BioSample (source individual) | SAMEA112964067 | SAMEA11025051 |
| BioSample (tissue) | SAMEA112975187 | SAMEA11025294 |
| Tissue | whole organism | other somatic animal tissue |
| Instrument | Revio | Illumina NovaSeq 6000 |
| Run accessions | ERR12120050 | ERR12121878 |
| Read count total | 3.93 million | 950.34 million |
| Base count total | 39.60 Gb | 143.50 Gb |
Assembly statistics
The primary haplotype was assembled, and contigs corresponding to an alternate haplotype were also deposited in INSDC databases. The final assembly has a total length of 312.35 Mb in 150 scaffolds, with 76 gaps, and a scaffold N50 of 55.79 Mb ( Table 2).
Table 2. Genome assembly statistics.
| Assembly name | idChrVidu2.1 |
| Assembly accession | GCA_964274935.1 |
| Alternate haplotype accession | GCA_964274965.1 |
| Assembly level | chromosome |
| Span (Mb) | 312.35 |
| Number of chromosomes | 5 |
| Number of contigs | 226 |
| Contig N50 | 6.3 Mb |
| Number of scaffolds | 150 |
| Scaffold N50 | 55.79 Mb |
| Sex chromosomes | not identified |
| Organelles | Mitochondrion: 16.08 kb |
Most of the assembly sequence (87.6%) was assigned to 5 chromosomal-level scaffolds. These chromosome-level scaffolds, confirmed by Hi-C data, are named according to size ( Figure 3; Table 3). All chromosomes are named in size order. We did not identify the sex chromosome(s) as sequence data from the heterogametic sex was not available and homology is unreliable for sex chromosome identification in Diptera due to frequent sex chromosome turnover ( Vicoso & Bachtrog, 2015). During curation we observed that contigs in the following regions have uncertain order and orientation: on chromosome 2 between 40.19 Mb and 41.9 Mb and on chromosome 4 from 29.9 Mb to the end.
Figure 3. Hi-C contact map of the Chrysops viduatus genome assembly.
Assembled chromosomes are shown in order of size and labelled along the axes, with a megabase scale shown below. The plot was generated using PretextSnapshot.
Table 3. Chromosomal pseudomolecules in the primary genome assembly of Chrysops viduatus idChrVidu2.
| INSDC
accession |
Molecule | Length
(Mb) |
GC% |
|---|---|---|---|
| OZ188066.1 | 1 | 78.30 | 32 |
| OZ188067.1 | 2 | 56.35 | 32 |
| OZ188068.1 | 3 | 55.79 | 34.50 |
| OZ188069.1 | 4 | 42.17 | 36 |
| OZ188070.1 | 5 | 41 | 31 |
The mitochondrial genome was also assembled. This sequence is included as a contig in the multifasta file of the genome submission and as a standalone record.
The combined primary and alternate assemblies achieve an estimated QV of 62.2. The k-mer completeness is 86.01% for the primary assembly, 83.22% for the alternate haplotype, and 99.54% for the combined assemblies ( Figure 4).
Figure 4. Evaluation of k-mer completeness using MerquryFK.
This plot illustrates the recovery of k‐mers from the original read data in the final assemblies. The horizontal axis represents k‐mer multiplicity, and the vertical axis shows the number of k‐mers. The black curve represents k‐mers that appear in the reads but are not assembled. The green curve corresponds to k‐mers shared by both haplotypes, and the red and blue curves show k‐mers found only in one of the haplotypes.
BUSCO v.5.5.0 analysis using the diptera_odb10 reference set ( n = 3 285) identified 93.2% of the expected gene set (single = 92.8%, duplicated = 0.5%). The snail plot in Figure 5 summarises the scaffold length distribution and other assembly statistics for the primary assembly. The blob plot in Figure 6 shows the distribution of scaffolds by GC proportion and coverage.
Figure 5. Assembly metrics for idChrVidu2.1.
The BlobToolKit snail plot provides an overview of assembly metrics and BUSCO gene completeness. The circumference represents the length of the whole genome sequence, and the main plot is divided into 1 000 bins around the circumference. The outermost blue tracks display the distribution of GC, AT, and N percentages across the bins. Scaffolds are arranged clockwise from longest to shortest and are depicted in dark grey. The longest scaffold is indicated by the red arc, and the deeper orange and pale orange arcs represent the N50 and N90 lengths. A light grey spiral at the centre shows the cumulative scaffold count on a logarithmic scale. A summary of complete, fragmented, duplicated, and missing BUSCO genes in the diptera_odb10 set is presented at the top right. An interactive version of this figure can be accessed on the BlobToolKit viewer.
Figure 6. BlobToolKit GC-coverage plot for idChrVidu2.1.
Blob plot showing sequence coverage (vertical axis) and GC content (horizontal axis). The circles represent scaffolds, with the size proportional to scaffold length and the colour representing phylum membership. The histograms along the axes display the total length of sequences distributed across different levels of coverage and GC content. An interactive version of this figure is available on the BlobToolKit viewer.
Table 4 lists the assembly metric benchmarks adapted from Rhie et al. (2021) and the Earth BioGenome Project Report on Assembly Standards September 2024. The EBP metric, calculated for the primary assembly, is 6.7.Q62, meeting the recommended reference standard.
Table 4. Earth Biogenome Project summary metrics for the Chrysops viduatus assembly.
| Measure | Value | Benchmark |
|---|---|---|
| EBP summary (primary) | 6.7.Q62 | 6.C.Q40 |
| Contig N50 length | 6.30 Mb | ≥ 1 Mb |
| Scaffold N50 length | 55.79 Mb | = chromosome N50 |
| Consensus quality (QV) | Primary: 62.0; alternate: 62.4;
combined: 62.2 |
≥ 40 |
| k-mer completeness | Primary: 86.01%; alternate:
83.22%; combined: 99.54% |
≥ 95% |
| BUSCO | C:93.2% [S:92.8%; D:0.5%]; F:1.2%;
M:5.6%; n:3 285 |
S > 90%; D < 5% |
| Percentage of assembly
assigned to chromosomes |
87.60% | ≥ 90% |
Wellcome Sanger Institute – Legal and Governance
The materials that have contributed to this genome note have been supplied by a Darwin Tree of Life Partner. The submission of materials by a Darwin Tree of Life Partner is subject to the ‘Darwin Tree of Life Project Sampling Code of Practice’, which can be found in full on the Darwin Tree of Life website. By agreeing with and signing up to the Sampling Code of Practice, the Darwin Tree of Life Partner agrees they will meet the legal and ethical requirements and standards set out within this document in respect of all samples acquired for, and supplied to, the Darwin Tree of Life Project. Further, the Wellcome Sanger Institute employs a process whereby due diligence is carried out proportionate to the nature of the materials themselves, and the circumstances under which they have been/are to be collected and provided for use. The purpose of this is to address and mitigate any potential legal and/or ethical implications of receipt and use of the materials as part of the research project, and to ensure that in doing so we align with best practice wherever possible. The overarching areas of consideration are:
Ethical review of provenance and sourcing of the material
Legality of collection, transfer and use (national and international)
Each transfer of samples is further undertaken according to a Research Collaboration Agreement or Material Transfer Agreement entered into by the Darwin Tree of Life Partner, Genome Research Limited (operating as the Wellcome Sanger Institute), and in some circumstances, other Darwin Tree of Life collaborators.
Funding Statement
This work was supported by Wellcome through core funding to the Wellcome Sanger Institute (220540) and the Darwin Tree of Life Discretionary Award [218328, <a href=https://doi.org/10.35802/218328>https://doi.org/10.35802/218328 </a>].
The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
[version 1; peer review: 2 approved, 1 approved with reservations]
Data availability
European Nucleotide Archive: Chrysops viduatus. Accession number PRJEB67427. The genome sequence is released openly for reuse. The Chrysops viduatus genome sequencing initiative is part of the Darwin Tree of Life Project (PRJEB40665) and the Sanger Institute Tree of Life Programme (PRJEB43745). All raw sequence data and the assembly have been deposited in INSDC databases. The genome will be annotated using available RNA-Seq data and presented through the Ensembl pipeline at the European Bioinformatics Institute. Raw data and assembly accession identifiers are reported in Table 1 and Table 2.
Production code used in genome assembly at the WSI Tree of Life is available at https://github.com/sanger-tol. Table 5 lists software versions used in this study.
Table 5. Software versions and sources.
Author information
Contributors are listed at the following links:
Members of the Natural History Museum Genome Acquisition Lab
Members of the Darwin Tree of Life Barcoding collective
Members of the Wellcome Sanger Institute Tree of Life Management, Samples and Laboratory team
Members of Wellcome Sanger Institute Scientific Operations – Sequencing Operations
Members of the Wellcome Sanger Institute Tree of Life Core Informatics team
Members of the Tree of Life Core Informatics collective
Members of the Darwin Tree of Life Consortium
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