An update of the current status of corn earworm, Helicoverpe zea (Boddie), the tobacco budworm, Heliothis virescens (Fabricius), and other heliothine pests in the Southern United States and Mexico is presented. A brief description of the damage caused to their host plants, their host range, geographic distribution, susceptibility to chemical and biological pesticides, development of resistance to pesticides, and the role of the new hybrids carrying one or multiple Bt toxins in their IPM are discussed.