The toxic effect of chlorine dioxide to the different instar larvae of chironomid was studied using raw water as test sample. Furthermore, the effect of temperature and contact time on toxicity of chlorine dioxide was observed. It was found that chlorine dioxide possessed significantly toxic effect, and the LC50 value of chlorine dioxide to the 4th instar larvae was 0.41 mg/L(24 h). The toxicity of chlorine dioxide declined with the development of instar larvae. The 1st instar larvae was most sensitive to chlorine dioxide among the four instars, and the LC50 value of chlorine dioxide to the 4th instar was 1.78 times of that of the 1st instar larvae. Temperature was proved to have significant positive effect on chlorine dioxide toxicity, and the toxicity at 30 degrees C was 2.16 times of that at 15 degrees C. The toxicity of chlorine dioxide was significantly improved with the contact time increasing from 12 h to 24 h, while it did not make much difference with the contact time increasing to 36 h.