Abstract
The effects of three different irrigating water qualities(clean water, life sewage and animal sewage) on the pattern of arthropod communities in the rice fields were investigated at Banwol, Kyonggi-do, mid-western part of Korea from 1994 to 1996. The total density of arthropod was highest in the rice field which was irrigated with clean water(clean water field), and the arthropod community was mainly composed of aphids and collembolans. Each functional group was found in the order of 'pests>non-pests>natural enemies' in its density. The dominant taxa in the pest group were aphids, planthoppers(Delphacidae), leafhoppers(Cicadelidae) and rice water weevil(L. oryzophilus). In the non-pest group collembolans, non-biting midges and dipterans were main arthropods, and in the natural enemy group Araneae was the dominant taxon. In the early growth stage of rice plant the dominant functional group was pests, and in the mid growth stage both the pest and the natural enemy group became dominant. But in the late growth stage none of the functional group was dominant over the other functional groups. The densities of spiders were much more higher in the clean water field than in the other fields. And through all the growth stages of rice plants the density of spiders in clean water field kept increase in contrast to the others. The species composition of spiders in the life sewage field was similar to that in the animal sewage field, but in the clean water field it was different from the other two fields.
