A number of insect pests are associated with maize in Indonesia. This article examines the species composition and status of maize pests in Donggala district of Central Sulawesi province in order to identify an appropriate control strategy and make location-specific integrated pest management recommendations. The study was carried out in seven villages in 2007, in which 50 samples were collected in each location from maize plots of 0.25-1 ha. Observations were recorded visually using sweep nets. The results reveal that maize pests found in Donggala district were almost the same as elsewhere in terms of structure, infection and distribution. The most important insect pests were Ostrinia furnacalis Guenee, Helicoverpa armigera Boddie and Atherigana sp, followed by Dalbulus maidis Delong and Walcott, Rhopalosiphum maidis Fitch and Nezara viridula L. The study recorded one parasite and 12 predators as natural enemies of these pests. In particular, egg parasites were found to be more effective in controlling O. furnacalis compared with larval parasites. The percentage of egg mass of O. furnacalis parasites ranged from 60-96 per cent in all locations.