Seven ‘yellow-eyed' tobacco budworm, Heliothis virescens (F.), adults (3 females:4 males) were found in a laboratory culture at the State University of West Georgia. The moths were mated in a single breeding chamber, and eggs were collected to establish a true-breeding, ‘yellow-eye' strain. It was noted that crosses between ‘yellow-eye' moths produced ‘yellow-eye' progeny only. Crosses between ‘yellow-eye' and ‘wild-type' phenotypes were made to characterize the inheritance of the ‘yellow-eye' trait. Sex ratios of the progeny generated from all crosses were approximately 1:1 (female:male). Reciprocal crosses of ‘yellow-eye' and ‘wild-type' moths produced F₁ progeny. Crosses of the F₁ ‘wild-type' heterozygotes with ‘yellow-eye' moths produced ‘wild-type' and ‘yellow-eye' progeny in a 1:1 ratio. Crosses of F₁ ‘wild-type' heterozygotes produced F₂ progeny in a 3:1 (‘wild-type' : 'yellow-eye') ratio. Furthermore, ‘yellow-eye' males were produced from this cross indicating that the ‘yellow-eye' trait was not X-linked. Based on the results generated by the crosses performed, the ‘yellow-eye' trait was inherited in accordance with simple Mendelian genetics as an autosomal, homozygous recessive trait. Crosses are now in progress to generate a true-breeding, homozygous dominant ‘wild-type' strain. Once this objective has been accomplished, further and more refined characterizations of the inheritance of the ‘yellow-eye' trait will be possible.