Australian cotton production relies heavily on the use of pesticides for control of Helicoverpa spp. As a result insecticide resistance has become a major problem (Daly and Paschalidis 1994). With current problems of resistance in Helicoverpa armigera (Hubner) to pesticides and the importance of aiding resistance management in Bt cotton, greater emphasis has been placed on research that investigates the role of beneficial insects as control agents of Helicoverpa. To date, this has largely been done by investigating total predator abundance relationships with prey abundance (Staley 1997). The role of individual predator species has not been widely investigated and our understanding of their roles in control of pests is limited. If predators are to be utilised in cotton growing systems it is imperative to understand the role of individual species. This will aid in the assessment of the ability of total predator populations to control Helicoverpa and other secondary pests. As many of the predator species found in cotton are generalist feeders this work includes an understanding of how each species performs given that relative abundance of prey types varies in cotton fields.