Resumen. El ‘nopal’ (Opuntia ficusindica Miller) es un cultivo de importancia para el municipio de San Andrés Cholula, Puebla, México; al igual que otros cultivos sembrados mediante agricultura intensiva y en monocultivo, presenta problemas de plagas insectiles, de las cuales no existe registro para el municipio. Se hicieron recolectas directas de la parte aérea del cultivo cada 20 días durante un año, en donde se obtuvieron 1,115 ejemplares, de los cuales se determinaron cinco Órdenes, 18 familias, 22 géneros, y 14 especies. Los Órdenes de mayor importancia fueron Hemiptera representando 40.9%, Coleoptera 27.2%, Diptera 18.1%, Hymenoptera 9.0%, y Orthoptera 4.5% de los especímenes colectados. Las especies con mayor incidencia fueron Dactylopus opuntidae Cockerell 36.5%, Cactophagus spinolae.Gyllenhal 10.4%, Dysdercus suturellus Herrich-Schaeffer y Solenopsis sp. Westwood 9.1%. Se encontraron cinco especies plaga potenciales (Cactophagus spinolae, Dactylopus opuntidae, Hesperolabops nigriceps, Sphenarium ... The prickly pear (Opuntia ficusindica Miller) is an important crop for the municipality of San Andrés Cholula, Puebla, Mexico; like other crops grown in intensive and monoculture agriculture, it presents problems of insect pests, of which there is no record for the municipality. Aerial parts of the crop were directly inspected 20 days apart during 1 year obtaining 1,115 specimens of five Orders, 18 families, 22 genera, and 14 species. The most important Orders of the insects collected were Hemiptera with 40.9%, Coleoptera 27.2%, Diptera 18.1%, Hymenoptera 9.0%, and Orthoptera 4.5%. The species with the highest incidence were Dactylopus opuntidae Cockerell 36.5%, Cactophagus spinolae Gyllenhal 10.4%, Dysdercus suturellus Herrich-Schaeffer, and Solenopsis sp. Westwood 9.1%. Five species of potential insect pests were found (Cactophagus spinolae, Dactylopus opuntidae, Hesperolabops nigriceps, Sphenarium purpurascens, Dysdercus suturellus) and four species were beneficial (pollinators and predators)...