none From September, 1976, until March, 1979, a study of the cultivated and wild bosts as well as natural enemies of the species of Helothis (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) in the cotton-growing region of the Department of Tolima, Colombia, was conducted. Four species of Heliothis, subflexus Guenee, tergeminus (Felder and Rogenbofer), virescens Fabricius, and zea (Boddie), were found infesting 7 cultivated and 67 wild hosts. All of the 74 hosts except corn and grain sorghum were infested by H. virescens . The preferred hosts of this species were cotton and Desmodium tortuosum (Sw.) DC (Papilionaceae), H. virescens was almost non-existent in tobacco, a principal host of this pest in other parts of the world. Six parasites and several predators were found attacking Heliothis. Cardiochiles nigriceps Vierick (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) parasitized up to 90 percent of the larvae of H. virescens collected from D. tortuosum . Eggs of Heliothis escaped parasitism by Trichogramma pretiosum Riley (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae) on several hosts because of the presence of sticky trichomes on the plants which trapped the adult parasites. Nutrition; Diet; Parasites diseases and disorders; Parasites; Insect parasites; Hosts; Insect hosts; Host parasite relationships; Ecology; Land and freshwater zones; Neotropical region; South America Eucelatoria (Diptera ); Braconidae; Trichogramma pretiosum (Trichogrammatidae ); Telenomus (Scelionidae ); Lepidopteran hosts; Heliothis; Prevalence; Heliothis (Lepidoptera) host; Colombia; Tolima Department; Lepidopteran host Heliothis (Noctuidae); Food plants; Dipteran parasites; Eucelatoria; Hymenopteran parasites; Apanteles; Cardiochiles; Telenomus & Trichogramma; Prevalence; Dipteran & hymenopteran parasites; Predators; Insecta; Species list; Colombia; Tolima Department; Food plant species list & dipteran & hymenopteran parasite prevalence