The effects of companionate planting on insect pests of snap bean,Phaseolus vulgarisL., were investigated in Chesterfield Co., VA, during 1977 and 1978.Significantly fewer Mexican bean beetles,Epilachna varivestisMulsant, occurred on beans bordered by French marigold than on nonbordered controls (P<0.01). However, this effect was overshadowed by the allelopathic response of French marigold to beans (P<0.01). No such effect was observed on beans bordered by pot marigold, garden petunia, summer savory, Dalmatian pyrethrum, apple-of-Peru and garden nasturtium.The corn earworm,Heliothis zea(Boddie) occurred significantly more on beans bordered by pot marigold and summer savory (P<0.05). The apple-of-Peru was completely defoliated by the threelined potato beetle,Lema trilineata(Olivier). Companionate planting described in this study does not appear to be a useful control strategy for insect pests ofP. vulgarisin home garden plots.