Any agent which reduces damage caused by heliothis is a valuable asset. In Australia we are fortunate to have several species of native parasites which attack heliothis, but not all of them are useful for within-crop management. Some parasites kill heliothis only after the larval stage has completed feeding, so in terms of crop damage, there is no difference between parasitised and unparasitised larvae. Current research at Toowoomba is investigating a native parasite, Microplitis demolitor Wilkinson [Hymenoptera: Braconidae], that kills heliothis during the fourth instar, before causing serious feeding damage. Results are presented on some aspects of this research. The release of two exotic species with attributes similar to M. demolitor is also discussed.