BACKGROUNDPachliopta hector, known as the crimson rose, is a sizable swallowtail butterfly within the genus Pachliopta (roses) and part of the red-bodied swallowtails group. The mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) offers valuable insights for phylogenetic studies and the evolutionary biology of Pachliopta hector.METHODS AND RESULTSIn this study, we sequenced, characterized, and annotated the mitogenome of P. hector. The complete mitogenome is 15,477 bp long and includes 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), 22 transfer RNA genes (tRNAs), 2 ribosomal RNA genes (rRNAs), and one control region, all arranged within a single scaffold. The mitogenome exhibits a strong A + T bias of 81.84%, along with a negative AT skew (-0.0379) and a negative GC skew (-0.1989). All PCGs initiate with a standard ATN start codon, while TAA or TAG serves as the common stop codons. Codon usage analysis revealed that the most frequently used amino acids in the mitogenome are Phe, Ile, Leu1, Met, and Asn. Most tRNAs displayed the typical cloverleaf secondary structure, except for trnI, trnS1, and trnF. The loop and DHU stem were absent in trnS1, while both trnF and trnI lacked the TΨC loop. A phylogenetic analysis was performed with 17 other species from the tribe Troidini along with 42 species from tribe Leptocircini, Papilionini, and Teinopalpini, within the subfamily Papilioninae was conducted using Bayesian inference (BI) and maximum likelihood (ML) based on the nucleotide sequences of the 13 mitochondrial PCGs. All the four tribes under Papilioninae were well separated.CONCLUSIONSThe findings suggest that P. hector is a member of the Troidini under subfamily Papilioninae shares sister clade with Pachliopta aristolochiae and Losaria neptunus. The BI and ML tree supported well-defined monophyletic groups at the tribe level and illustrated the relationship between the groups ((Teinopalpini and Papilionini) + Leptocircini) + Troidini)). This research may provide valuable insights into the evolution of P. hector and phylogenetic relationship of tribes Troidini under subfamily Papilioninae.