In order to measure the effect of the application of an insecticide bait with the help of a sugary substance to control adults of Tecia solanivora (Povolny) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae), tests were carried out in laboratory and under greenhouse, at the Agronomy School at the National University of Colombia, in Bogota. A breeding was managed in the Laboratory of Entomology to obtain the entomology material for the different tests. Four attractants were evaluated: Sugar, molasses, honey and panela (a kind of brown sugar). Honey resulted as the most attractive substance. Three insecticides (with and without honey) as a bait were tested in the laboratory trial: Beta-cyfluthrin EC 0,25; Chlorpyrifos-Betacyfluthrin EC 450 and Chlorpyrifos- Betacyfluthrin EC 262,5, with two doses each: 0,5 cmvl, and 1,0 cml/l.; with the best two insecticides (Chlorpyrifos- Betacyfluthrin EC 450 and Chlorpyrifos-Betacyfluthrin EC 262,5) we did a greenhouse trial, caging four plants ofpotato, variety parda pastusa, and placing 20 adults of T. solanivora (10 females and 10 males) inside each cage. Two methods were used to apply the treatments: a spray to the inferior third of one of the four plants and a recipient trap containing the insecticide bait. The design was a completely randomized block (RCB) with four replications. The variables evaluated were per cent mortality to calculate percent effectiveness with the Schneider-Orelli method, per cent incidence ofthe tubers and per cent infestation ofthe tubers. In the greenhouse experiment Chlorpyrifos-Betacyfluthrin EC 450 (1 ,Ocm3/L) with honey gave the highest per cent mortality (72,5%), the highest per cent effectiveness (69,4%) and the lowest percentage of tuber infestation (11,3%). There was no significant difference between the spraying methods and the recipient trap to apply the insecticidal bait.