Abstract: 【Aim】 This study aims to investigate and analyze the species composition of arthropod community in paddy fields and the interaction between main insect pests and natural enemies in Jianghan Plain of Central China, so as to provide a scientific basis for the development of a green management system for rice pests. 【Methods】The numbers of species and individuals of arthropods in 28 paddy fields in Jianli City, Qianjiang City, Jiangling County, and other cities and counties in Jianghan Plain were investigated at the tillering stage, booting stage and full heading stage of rice by suckingmachine method and sweeping-net method from 2019 to 2020. The effects of principal components on arthropod community in paddy fields and the interactions between the population size of main insect pests and the population size of natural enemies were analyzed by principal component analysis and grey correlation analysis. 【Results】 There were 169 arthropod species in paddy fields investigated in Jianghan Plain during 2019-2020. According to the nutrient feeding relationship, the arthropod community in paddy fields was divided into four subcommunities, including 6 orders, 33 families and 57 species of phytophagous species, 7 orders, 30 families and 50 species of predatory species, 2 orders, 15 families and 44 species of parasitic species, and 5 orders, 16 families and 18 species of neutral species. In the arthropod community in paddy fields, Sogatella furcifera and Nephotettix bipunctatus had the main contribution to the 1st principal component, Orius tantillus and Paederus fuscipes had the main contribution to the 2nd principal component, and Cnaphalocrocis medinalis and Laodelphax striatellus had the main contribution to the 3rd principal component. The first three natural enemies whose population size had high correlations with the population size of the main pest C. medinalis were ranked in a descending order as follows: Hylyphantes graminicola>Pardosa pseudoannulata>Misumenops tricuspidatus, while those whose population size had high correlations with the population size of the main insect pest S. furcifera were ranked in a descending order as follows: Tetragnatha nitens>Cyrtorhinus lividipennis>P. pseudoannulata. 【Conclusion】 The difference of arthropod community composition in paddy fields originates mainly from the population size of the dominant phytophagous insects and predatory natural enemies. The population size of H. graminicola shows the closest coupling pattern to that of C. medinalis, and similar coupling pattern exists in the predator T. nitens to S. furcifera, indicating that these predators play dominant roles in controlling the respective preys.

Key words: Arthropod community, main insect pests, natural enemy, principal component analysis, gray correlation analysis