The aim of the observations was to determine the species composition of the Carabidae occurring in apple orchards with integrated and organic pest management, and to determine the impact of the surrounding areas on the Carabidae fauna appearing in those orchards. A total of 367 individuals of the Carabidae, representing 17 species from 15 genera, were collected in apple orchards with different management systems and surroundings. In both years of research, Carabidae beetles were the most numerous in the ecological orchard (142 specimens and species richness 5.8). Of the three orchards where integrated pest management was applied, the Carabidae most often occurred in the orchard with the most varied vegetation, withshrubs, trees and herbaceous plants in the neighbourhood (94 individuals). The lowest number of beetles, only 52 specimens, was reported for the site with the poorest vegetation in the neighbourhood (species richness 3.5). The species that dominated the carabid assemblages in the orchard habitats was Harpalus rufipes, which constituted more than 60%. In terms of the number of specimens, the hemizoophages constituted the dominant group among the collected Carabidae, and the highest number was found in the ecological orchard. The presence of refuge sites contributed to the increase in species richness of the Carabidae, whereas the use of chemical treatments in the IPM apple orchards negatively affected species richness and the number of carabids.

Orchards benefit from ecosystem services such as pollination and natural pest control. The surrounding landscape affects the species composition and abundance of insect communities, which in turn can lead to higher biocontrol rates and less crop damage [1,2].The landscape surrounding orchards may directly influence the biodiversity and richness of arthropods through its effects on their immigration or emigration. The neighbourhood vegetation may also indirectly

The influence of different semi-natural surroundings adjacent to apple orchards on the occurrence of predatory syrphids and biological control of Aphis pomi Deg. and Dysaphis plantaginea Pass. was compared. Two methods of catching hoverflies were used: yellow traps to collect the adults and hand picking to get the larvae from aphid colonies. A total of 1029 Syrphidae (26 species belonging to 14 genera) of subfamily Syrphinae were collected in Moericke traps from apple orchards and their boundaries. At all sites, a much greater number of hoverflies was collected in the surroundings (638 specimens) than in the orchards (391 specimens). In apple orchards, 134 syrphids belonging to 10 species were reared from A. pomi and D. plantaginea colonies. In both cases, the dominants were Episyrphus balteatus (Deg.) Eupeodes corollae (Fabr.), Syrphus vitripennis Meig. and S. scripta (L.), suggesting that hoverflies are attracted by plants flowering in semi-natural habitats in the vicinity of the orchard, and they then migrate to the orchard and reduce the aphid colonies. The results confirmed the positive influence of natural surroundings on the conservation of aphid predators.

The study was conducted in south-eastern Poland, in three apple orchards where integrated pest management was applied, and in one ecological orchard and in their surroundings.In total, 1,677 individuals of Syrphidae belonging to 37 species, 21 genera, and two subfamilies were collected in the yellow traps. The most numerous were zoophagous syrphids -they constituted 94.5% of all the collected specimens and about 70% of the noted species. Among them, one species -Episyrphus balteatus (Deg.) -was the eudominant in the orchards and their surroundings.Comparing the occurrence of Syrphidae in the three IPM apple orchards and in their surroundings, it can be stated that more syrphids were caught in the boundary vegetation than within the orchards, whereas on the ecological site, more hoverflies were collected within the apple orchard than on the neigbouring plants. In most cases, in the orchard under IPM the syrphid species abundant in the surroundings of the orchards also appeared in great numbers in the orchards themselves, which indicated their movement from the boundaries into the orchards.The study has shown that the surroundings of orchards with species-rich, flowering plants positively influenced the species richness and the abundance of hoverflies occurring in the orchards.