【Background】Tirathaba rufivena Walker is an important pest of palm. Traditionally, the control methods focused on the use of chemical pesticides. In this study, we examine the potential use of botanical pesticides to control this pest. 【Method】Four botanical insecticides were tested against the survival of larvae of T.rufivena in the laboratory by using two methods: the velum contacting method and the leaf feeding method. 【Result】The four botanical insecticides showed insecticidal activity against T.rufivena. With the velum contacting method, pyrethrums and nicotine had the highest toxicity, with LC50 values varying from 17.01 to 3.83 mg·L-1 and 24.78 to 3.75 mg·L-1 against 1st to 5th instar larvae. With leaf feeding method, nicotine and rotenone were the most toxic, with the LC50 values of the two pesticides were 7.72~20.69 mg·L-1 and 11.41~25.25 mg·L-1, respectively. 【Conclusion and significance】The two toxicity methods showed different results suggesting that the mode of action of each pesticide should be considered in pest control.