Bruchid beetles of the genus Zabrotes (Coleoptera: Bruchidae) are important world wide pests of legume seeds. Samples of Zabrotes subfasciatus and Z. sylvestris were collected from seeds of two Phaseolus species throughout Mexico to assess the role of host plant variation and plant domestication on the evolution of host use in this species. For this purpose six polymorphic microsatellite loci were isolated and characterized for the bruchid Z. subfasciatus. Cross-species amplification tests were performed on Z. sylvestris and revealed that three loci amplified successfully and were polymorphic in this closely related species.