Chromosome-level genome assembly and annotation of the pygmy grasshopper Gibbotettix parvipulvillus

Here we present the first high-quality chromosome-level genome assembly for Gibbotettix parvipulvillus, a Chinese endemic pygmy grasshopper serving as a significant bioindicator for fragile forest ecosystems and exhibiting unique evolutionary adaptations to restricted microhabitats. Combining 47.43 Gb of PacBio HiFi, 47.32 Gb of Illumina, and 68.34 Gb of Hi-C sequencing data, we achieved an assembly size of 1.42 Gb with exceptional contiguity (contig N50: 100.63 Mb; scaffold N50: 308.03 Mb). The assembly anchored 97.88% of sequences to 7 pseudochromosomes, with chromosome 7 identified as the X chromosome through reduced sequencing coverage (18.04 × versus ~ 34 × for autosomes). Repeat annotation revealed repetitive elements comprise 58.79% of the genome, with LINEs being most abundant (14.15%). We annotated 17,220 protein-coding genes with functional information assigned to 93.82% of them. The assembly demonstrates high completeness (BUSCO score: 98.8% complete genes) and accuracy (read mapping rate > 98.5%). This genomic resource will facilitate research on the evolution of winglessness, adaptation to restricted habitats, and conservation genomics of this ecologically valuable bioindicator taxon.