Partial genomic libraries of Heliothis virescens and Helicoverpa zea enriched for microsatellite sequences of di-, tri-, and tetra-nucleotide repeat units were constructed and screened by DNA sequencing. 147 clones containing more than 6 repeat units were identified from DNA sequences of 192 randomly selected clones from Heliothis virescens library. Primer pairs were developed for 96 of these sequences and 22 primer pairs that yielded less than 2 peaks per individual were selected for further analysis. A total of 34 primer pairs were developed using the DNA sequence information from Helicoverpa zea microsatellite library. All 22 primer pairs developed for H. virescens were screened against insects collected from Mississippi, Lousiana, Texas and, Tamaulipas State of Mexico. Data obtained from field populations from Stoneville, MS using ten of these primer pairs will be presented