Abstract: A largescale afforestation project has been carried out in Beijing in recent years, involving a variety of woodland habitats. Insect community composition and species diversity are closely related to tree species composition, site condition, and management measures of forest stands. In this study, we investigated the structure, diversity, similarity and the spatiotemporal dynamics of moth communities in five types of forest plantations in Beijing, and analyzed the ecological responses of moth diversity to habitat types. The results showed that 7046 specimens belonging to 269 species of 25 families were sampled, with Noctuidae being the dominant group. Results of cluster analysis and community similarity analysis showed that the moth community characteristics were divergent between the urban and suburban habitats. The diversity and evenness indices of the moth community in suburban habitats were higher than that in urban habitats, while the species dominance and abundance in urban habitats was higher than that in suburban habitats. In conclusion, moth community characteristics were closely related to habitat type and stand quality of urban plantations. The risk of pest outbreaks in urban habitats was higher than that in suburban habitats. Pest control in urban plantations, especially in woodlands of vacated areas, should thus be more concerned.

Key words: diversity, stability, moth, habitat quality.