The western corn rootworm (WCR), Diabrotica virgifera virgifera LeConte, is one of the most important pests of field corn throughout the U.S. Corn Belt both in terms of crop losses and synthetic insecticide use. Novel control techniques currently used in WCR management include transgenic corn hybrids expressing Bacillus thuringiensis toxins and seed treatment with neonicotinoid insecticides. However, the limited number of alternative control strategies and the remarkable history of WCR adaptation call for the discovery of new biopesticide targets. In addition to being a main entry point for xenobiotics, the insect midgut is also critical to numerous aspects of insect biology and ecology. Therefore, novel control methods that exploit the midgut hold great potential as efficient, effective systems for the suppression of pest populations. The objective of this project was to establish RNA interference (RNAi) as a tool to identify candidate midgut targets for WCR control. To validate the technique in WCR, silencing of laccase, a gene involved in cuticle tanning, was successfully employed to disrupt integument tanning. Subsequently, successful silencing of a midgut-specific gene was achieved using dsRNA directed against chitin synthase2, required for proper formation of the peritrophic matrix. These results indicate that RNAi induced silencing of midgut-specific genes in WCR larvae provides a powerful technique for identifying potential biopesticide targets.