Abstract: To explore the effects of the mosaic arrangement of paddy and non-paddy habitats on the rice leaf folder ［Cnaphalocrocis medinalis (Guenée), RLF］ and its natural enemies, experiments were carried out during 2007 and 2008 by outdoor sampling, using suction sampler and pitfall trap, and indoor examining for identification and classification of the samples at the Wuyishan Experimental Station of Institute of Applied Ecology (IAE), Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University (FAFU). The polycultural manipulations were arranged by mosaic patterns of paddy plots intercropped with non-paddy plots, which included the plants of chili, ginger, maize and peanut. Monocultural fields of paddy plants were set as controls. The results showed that there was no significant difference in the abundance of RLF and its parasitoid guild between polycultural and monocultural fields. The abundance of predatory arthropods (spiders and insects) in paddy within polycultural fields was significantly less than that within monocultural fields, but the results were reverse in paddy borders, with significantly higher ground-dwelling predators in polycultural fields. This may mainly be due to the preference of predatory arthropods, especially predatory insects, for migrating from paddy into non-paddy habitats within polycultural fields.

Key words: Cnaphalocrocis medinalis (Guenée), monoculture, polyculture, parasitoid, predatory arthropod, movement dynamics