Insect fauna from the heads (capitula) and stems of six native sunflower species in eastern North Dakota and western Minnesota are reported. Eight insect species in six families of Coleoptera, Diptera, and Lepidoptera were recovered from the heads of six species ofHelianthus. Heads ofHelianthus annuusL. contained the greatest diversity of insect species. Insect species collected were also commonly found as pests of cultivated sunflower heads. Two major pests of commercial sunflower in the Great Plains—the red sunflower seed weevil,Smicronyx fulvusLeConte; and the banded sunflower moth,Cochylis hospesWalsingham—were collected from the heads of all six nativeHelianthusspecies, although they were most common inH. annuus.Neotephritis finalis(Loew) also occurred in the heads of allHelianthusspp. examined. Insects from seven overwintering species were recovered from the stems of all sixHelianthusspp. Insect stem fauna diversity was greatest inH. maximilianiSchrader, and least inH. rigidus subrhomboideus(Rydberg). The sunflower stem weevil,Cylindrocopturus adspersus(LeConte), was the only major insect pest of cultivated sunflower that was recovered from sunflower stems. It was most abundant inH. annuus. A single species of parasitoid,Nealiolus curculionis(Fitch), was reared from sunflower stem weevil larvae. Results suggest that some species ofHelianthushave high potential as sources of insect resistance for incorporation into commercial sunflower.