Abstract: Insect chitinase, which belongs to the family 18 glycosylhydrolases, plays an key role during insect molting and metamorphosis. Spodoptera litura damages more than 290 plants, but chitinases in this species have not been clearly studied. In this study, 12 putative chitinase-like proteins were identified in S. litura and classified into eight different groups. The expression patterns of these chitinase genes in the three tissues including midgut, fat body and epidermis during the metamorphosis were analyzed. The results showed that the expression levels of SlCht5, SlCht9 and SlCht2 increased during metamorphosis. SlCht6 expressed in the midgut and fat body; SlCht11, SlCht12 and SlCht16 expressed in the midgut and epidermis; SlIDGF2 expressed only in epidermis; while SlIDGF3 and SlCht9 expressed in the three tissues. The results suggest that different chitinases might play different roles during development in S. litura, SlCht5, SlCht9 and SlCht2 might be associated with metamorphosis. The results derived from this study set up a basis for further investigation of function and regulation of these genes in this insect.