In the field and laboratory, Gossypium arboreum varieties G 27, LD 133 and LD 230 were less preferred by the jassid, Amrasca biguttula biguttula, and the aphid, Aphis gossypii, than G. hirsutum variety, F 414. The arboreum varieties also supported fewer numbers of the two sucking pests than the hirsutum cotton. These varieties proved potentially susceptible to bollworms Earias spp and Pectinophora gossypiella damage in laboratory tests. Interestingly the varieties exhibited considerable degrees of field resistance. In the field, Earias moths showed no preference for any plant part for oviposition among the four cotton varieties. Of the reproductive parts of the cotton plant offered, first and last instar Earias vittella larvae orientated maximally to bud. Nonetheless, the larvae showed no definite pattern of preference for the fruiting structures of the cotton plant. In the laboratory, the four varieties showed non-significant differences in supporting the growth of Earias and Pectinophora larvae. The number of Earias eggs on the four varieties did not vary significantly. The number of fruiting bodies per plant and Earias incidence were unrelated in the four varieties.