none The nuclear polyhedrosis virus (NPV) of Spodoptera litura (Fabricius) was not cross infective to other groundnut pests tested, viz., Heliothis armigera (Hub.), Aproaerema modicella (Deventer), Empoasca kerri Pruthi and Aphis craccivora Koch. and safer to their predators, viz., Coccinella septumpunctata Linn., Menochilus sexmaculatus Fab. and Chrysoperla carnea (Steph.) and parasitoids Bracon gelichae Ashm. and Tetrastichus sp. tested. Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. kurstaki Berliner (B.t.) was highly effective against the larvae of lepidopterous pests tested but not against homopteran insects. B.t. was also safe to coccinellid predators and larval parasitoids of A. modicella except for adults of C. carnea. Beauveria bassiana (Balsamo) Vuille. was infective to groundnut pests and coccinellid predators tested. Nevertheless, its safety was proved against the larval parasitoids of A. modicella.