To compare the activity of different promoter in baculovirus-insect system, a series of recombinant baculoviruses were generated harboring the E-GFP reporter gene under the control of one of 5 promoters, including the ie1 promoter of shrimp white spot syndrome virus (WSSV), the truncated ie1 (mie1) promoter, the ETL promoter of the baculovirus, the elongated ETL (mETL) promoter, and the polyhedron promoter (P(PH)) of the baculovirus. The expression efficiency of the E-GFP reporter gene in the recombinant baculovirus-infected Sf9 cells was determined by flow cytometry. The results showed that both ie1 and mETL promoters had a strong promoter activity at early phase, while P(PH) showed a strong promoter activity at late phase. The ie1 promoter suggested the strongest promoter activity. The homologous region 1 (hr1) was also found to enhance the ETL promoter activity.