A fall armyworm colony was established from a sample of larvae collected in conventional cotton during the fall of 2004. Early stage (L1-L3) larvae were exposed to Bollgard and Bollgard 2 cotton cultivars using two methods. Larvae were confined to the white flowers of field-grown plants with cages and infested on excised cotton tissue in plastic dishes within the laboratory. Bollgard 2 significantly reduced larval survival of neonates and delayed pupation compared to larvae on non-transgenic cotton lines. Damage from 2 and 5 d-old larvae to bolls on Bollgard and Bollgard 2 plants was not significantly different than that on conventional cotton lines.