<p><i>Chilo partellus</i> Swinhoe (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) poses a biosecurity risk to African sugarcane (<i>Saccharum</i> L. spp. hybrids (Poaceae)). Developing reliable area wide integrated pest management (AW-IPM), linked to good population monitoring enhances strategies such as the Sterile Insect Technique (SIT). SIT depends on releases of mass reared irradiated adults, distinguished through laboratory marking, from field populations. This aids assessment of SIT performance and population distribution studies utilising mark-release-recapture methods, providing valuable information on performance and movement of marked insects and their impact on field populations. The first successful use of oil-soluble dyes Calco red N1700 (N1700) and Sudan red 7B (7B) to mark <i>C. partellus</i> is reported here. Pupation success (N1700-78%, 7B-64%, control-80%: F = 0.73, <i>p</i> = 0.5. d.f = 15) and adult emergence rates (N1700-97.4%, 7B-90.6%, control-97.5%: F = 2.84, <i>p</i> = 0.07, d.f = 49) in dye containing diets were not significantly different from the control diet. Male (53.5 ± 1.3 days, F = 3.3, <i>p</i> = 0.04, d.f = 54) and female (51.7 ± 1.4 days, F = 4.8, <i>p</i> = 0.01, d.f = 50) larvae developed faster in N1700 compared to the control diet (55.5 ± 1.0 days, F = 3.3, <i>p</i> = 0.04, d.f = 54 and 58.3 ± 2.4 days, F = 4.8, <i>p</i> = 0.01, d.f = 50 respectively). Female fecundity in the control (1295.7 ± 235.8 eggs) was significantly higher than in the N1700 diet (663.6 ± 249.8 eggs; F = 6.40, <i>p</i> = 0.01, d.f = 13), as was percentage egg fertility (74.0% and 71.9% respectively; F = 11.0, <i>p</i> = 0.001, d.f = 19). Incorporating Calco red N1700 in artificial diets effectively marks <i>C. partellus</i> adults for mark-release-recapture and monitoring studies without significantly impairing key biological traits, in contrast to 7B. However, further research is necessary to lower its impact on reproduction for ongoing mass rearing in SIT programmes&#xa0;.</p>