This invention is a method for constructing recombinant organisms that produce proteins lethal to the larvae of insects. Nucleotide sequences were isolated from Bacillus popilliae that encode two adjacent, putative genes; orf1 and cryhime1. The cryhime1 sequence was related to other Bacillus popilliae genes that encode proteins active against Scarabaeidae insect larvae. When these nucleotide sequences were transferred to Bacillus thuringiensis, a protein was produced that had a lethal effect on the larvae from Scarabaeidae insects. When the orf1 sequence was removed from the recombinant Bacillus thuringiensis strain, no protein active against Scarabaeidae insect larvae was produced, strongly suggesting that the orf1 sequences are required for expression of the cryhime1 gene.