As a receptor for the major inhibitory neurotransmitter in insects, the GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid) receptor is an important target for a number of insecticides including the cyclodienes. Cyclodiene insecticides were commonly used as soil treatments to control larvae of the western corn rootworm, Diabrotica virgifera virgifera during 1940`s to 1960`s, but rapidly lead to widespread resistance. The resistance also has been shown to persist in rootworm populations for many years in the absence of selection. Since a GABA-receptor subunit-edcoding a dieldrin resistance mutation (Rdl) was isolated from a dieldrin resistant strain of Drosophila melanogaster, similar mutations have been found in several other insect orders. In most cases studied, the point mutation results in an amino acid substitution of an alanine either to serine or glycine within the 2nd transmembrane (M2) domain causing insensitivity of the GABA receptor. Therefore, cyclodienes resistance historically represents an extremely important model for understanding the evolution of target site-mediated resistance to insecticides. Here, we report a partial GABA receptor sequence from D. virgifera virgifera that was identified using degenerate PCR and rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE). This partial GABA receptor sequence aligned with a GABA receptor subunit from a cyclodiene-resistant strain of Tribolium castaneum with 83% (329/393) identity in nucleotide sequence. Interestingly, we did not observe a common point mutation within M2 on this partial sequence. Our findings will add to the understanding of functional diversity of GABA receptor genes and mutations associated with resistance among populations of D. virgifera virgifera.