Contribution to the study of the fine structure of the egg in the genus Pseudomallada Tsukaguchi, 1995 (Neuroptera, Chrysopidae)

The pattern of egg deposition, the morphology of the eggs and particularly the fine structure of the chorion surface examined by means of the scanning electron microscope (SEM) can provide useful elements for discriminating subfamilies, genera and species in green lacewings (Neuroptera, Chrysopidae). Observations are now available in the world literature on the fine structure of the exochorion for various genera and at least a dozen green lacewing species. The present work deals principally with the surface structures (exochorion surface, micropylar area) of the egg – examined by means of SEM – of some species belonging to the genus Pseudomallada Tsukaguchi, 1995 (Chrysopinae), which in Europe includes about two dozen taxa of specific or subspecific rank, some of which are difficult to discriminate and problematic as regards their systematic level. The species considered are: P. prasinus (Burmeister, 1839), P. inornatus (Navás, 1901), P. clathratus (Schneider, 1845), and P. cf. picteti (McLachlan, 1880). To date, the observations available in the literature on the egg features in these species are quite limited or absent. The pattern of the exochorion sculpturing provides more or less evident discriminating features between at least some of the species examined. It seems to be more difficult to find easily recognizable differences between species in the structure of the micropylar area. Other differences are to be found in the length of the egg and its stalk and in the shape of the egg itself, which can nevertheless change a little in relation to embryonic development.