Current management strategies for control of the western corn rootworm, Diabrotica virgifera virgifera, include transgenic plants that express Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) Cry3 toxins so that ingestion of specific Cry toxins results in insect death. Known receptors for Cry1 toxins in lepidoptera include cadherin-like proteins. In this report, we identified the first coleopteran cadherin gene from D. v. virgifera. We found that this putative protein encoded by this gene has similar architecture to previously identified cadherin-like proteins reported from lepidopterans. Additionally, the rootworm cadherin-like gene is present as a single copy, and its transcript is regulated during development with high levels found in 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd instars and adults and low detection in the pupal stage. The gene appears to be expressed only in gut tissue of larvae. Although this putative protein contains many similarities to cadherin-like proteins found in Lepidoptera, significant differences in structures may partially explain differences in the spectrum of toxicity between Cry3 and Cry1 toxins.