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The tomato leaf miner, <i>Tuta absoluta</i> is a destructive pest of tomato. The leaf-mining activities of its larvae can cause significant yield losses. Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) is commonly used to measure gene expression, and the selection of stable reference genes for calibration and standardization is critical for accurate use of RT-qPCR. We studied the stable expression of nine common housekeeping genes in <i>T. absoluta</i>. These were examined at different developmental stages, in larval tissues, as well as those induced by exposure to 20E and insecticides. Four dedicated algorithms (geNorm, BestKeeper, NormFinder, and ΔCt method) and online tool (RefFinder) were used to analyze and rank the tested reference genes. Based on the standardized gene expression data of target gene <i>ecdysone receptor</i> (<i>EcR</i>), the applicability of specific reference genes was verified. The results clarify that the optimal internal reference genes vary greatly under different experimental conditions. <i>GAPDH</i> and <i>RP</i><i>S11</i> were the best reference genes for developmental stages; <i>RPL28</i> and <i>RPL10</i> for different tissues; <i>EF1α</i> and <i>RPL28</i> for 20E treatment; <i>EF1α</i> and <i>RPL7A</i> for insecticide treatments. The most suitable reference genes in all experimental conditions are <i>EF1α</i> and <i>RPL28</i>.