Resumo. The current study aimed to test how aqueous neem Azadirachta indica A. Juss. extract affects the attractiveness, feeding and development of Spodoptera frugiperda (J. E. Smith) on different: peanut cultivars. Tests were carried out under laboratory conditions with the cultivars IAC 503 and IAC 147 and aqueous neem extract in concentrations (mass/volume) of 5 and 10%, obtained from seeds and dried in an oven at a temperature of 35 to 38 °C for 15 days, with caterpillars offered a food choice preference test. For this, leaf discs from each treatment were placed in Petri dishes into which three first instar caterpillars were released. To assess resistance biology, single newly-hatched caterpillars were transferred to individual Petri dishes, where the following biological parameters were measured: larval mortality after 1, 3, 5, 7 and 10 days; pupal mortality; total mortality; weight of 10-day-old caterpillars; pupal weight at 24 hours; and adult longevity. The main conclusions of the work, include: cultivar IAC 147 was less attractive and consumed less; cultivar IAC 503 plus 10% neem extract reduced leaf consumption; cultivar type did not affect caterpillar biological development, and 10% neem extract caused 100% mortality in S. frugiperda.