T he genus Gossypium (Malvaceae) comprises of 40 species, among which four are commercially cultivated. One of the latter, the upland cotton, Gossypium hirsutum L., predominates with 95% of the total production area (FAO, 2015;Trapero et al., 2016). It is grown mainly to obtain fiber as a raw material for the textile industry (FAO, 2015). In 2019, 82,589,031 tons of cotton were produced from approximately 38,640,608 hectares (FAOSTAT, 2019) cultivated in more than 78 countries (Razaq et al., 2020). This represents 2.3% of all cultivated land in the world and indicates its economic and social importance (FAO, 2015).Until the end of the 19th century, there were few cases of pests associated with cotton (Razaq et al., 2020). However, the large number of hectares planted in different biogeographic regions, resulted in the insertion of a variety of arthropod species within the trophic networks of the agroecosystem, which expanded the diversity of these organisms, compared to what was originally found in center of origin (Naranjo, 2011). There are currently 1,300 species of phytophagous arthropods associated with cotton, Abstract | Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) is cultivated mainly for the production of fiber for the textile industry and is attacked by different insect pests, therefore it is produced with frequent pesticide applications. Research was conducted to evaluate the effect of lambda cyhalothrin + thiamethoxam on the incidence of insect pests and its associated natural enemies. Results revealed that populations of B. tabaci were higher in plots treated with lambda cyhalothrin + thiamethoxam associated with low levels of parasitism. Further, A. gossypii were high and their parasitism low, in both treated and untreated plots. Individuals of T. palmi, B. thurberiella, H. virescens and A. vestitus were low in the treatments; while individuals of Dysdercus spp. were lower in the plots treated with the chemical insecticide. However, the predators, Coleomegilla maculata, Cycloneda sanguinea, Cheilomenes sexmaculata and Zelus sp., were inferior in the treated plots. Yield ranged from 1.2 to 1.4 tons. Thrips palmi is first reported feeding on cotton in Ecuador. The results showed high populations of B. tabaci in the chemical treatment, and its suppressive effect on the beneficial entomofauna. Future research should focus on evaluating the selective applications of some insecticides to control A. gossypii and Dysdercus spp. infestations that impact as little as possible on non-target organisms such as parasitoids and predators.