Morphology and chorionic sculpture of eggs of two pest species Chilo infuscatellus Snellen and C. auricillia Dudgeon (Insecta: Lepidoptera: Crambidae)

Two crambid species of subfamily crambinae i.e., Chilo infuscatellus Snellen and C. auricillia Dudgeon, commonly known as sugarcane shoot borer and stalk borer respectively, whose eggs were analyzed through Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) for studying their morphological features present on the egg chorion. This chorionic sculpture can be used by a taxonomist for precise identification of taxa along with other taxonomic characters. The egg surface shows structural elements such as micropylar rosette, ribs, cross-ribs, and aeropyles which differ significantly amid the higher taxonomic groups. In the species i.e., C. infuscatellus Snellen, the egg chorion has somewhat smooth with weak ornamentation in comparison to irregular reticulation present with both alternating and longitudinal ridges reaches the micropyle in C. auricillia Dudgeon