Predators play a role in suppressing soybean aphid Aphis glycines Matsumura (Hemiptera: Aphididae) populations. Twenty-six years before the invasion of the soybean aphid a survey of Iowan soybean found a diverse community of aphidophagous insects. Five years after soybean aphids arrived in Iowa, we conducted a survey of the natural enemy community. Furthermore, we sought to determine what sampling methods are appropriate to estimate natural enemy abundance and activity. Samples were taken once a week from June to September in 2004 and 2005. Soybean aphids and their natural enemies were monitored on individual plants (visual counts); in addition soybean plants were removed, immediately placed in plastic bags, and examined in the laboratory (destructive counts). Also, we used sweep-nets and yellow sticky traps. Overall, soybean aphid densities varied between years and across sites. The natural enemy community varied slightly by site and year, and significantly by sampling method. Since the 1977-78 survey, we observed fewer species of native coccinellids, in addition to two exotic coccinellids. Visual and destructive samples collected more sessile natural enemies (i.e. Orius insidiosus and coccinellid larvae). Sweep-net and yellow sticky traps collected active natural enemies (i.e. spiders, Nabis spp., Chrysoperla spp., adult syrphids and adult coccinellids), which made up a greater percentage of the community. Our results suggest that certain sampling methods (i.e. visual counts) do not account for the activity of more mobile natural enemies and may underestimate their role in suppressing soybean aphid populations.