A practical diet containing the commercial feeding sti-mulant COAX (cottonseed flour, cottonseed oil and carbohydrate) has been developed to facilitate the mass rearing of three noctuid species, with a minimum of time and cost. The medium is composed of COAX, agar, water and mould inhibitors. Development times for larvae of the spiny bollworm (Earias insulana), the pink bollworm (Pectinophora gos-sypiella) and the almond moth (Ephestia cautella) were as follows: E. insulana; mean development period from larva to adult, 27 days; P. gossypiella: mean development period from larva to adult, 40 days; E. cautella: mean development period from larva to adult, 23 days.