In order to develop a more efficient virus for controlling the cotton bollworm Helicoverpa armigera,Helicoverpa hormone receptor 3 (HHR3), which is involved in the ecdysteroid regulatory pathway, was used to genetically modify wild HaSNPV. HaSNPV-HHR3 budded virus and occlusion body virus were constructed in three steps: preparation of pFastBacHaPhpP10-HHR3 donor plasmid, transposition of HHR3 into the HaBacHZ8 bacmid, and transfection of HzAM1 cells to get HaSNPV-HHR3 virus. HHR3was proved to be expressed in the HaSNPV-HHR3 virus infected HzAM1 cells by immunoblotting. Results of bioassay indicated that the body weight of the HaSNPV-HHR3 infected larvae was lower than the larvae infected with wild virus and uninfected normal larvae, which suggests that HaSNPV-HHR3 delayed larval growth.