[Objectives]  To investigate whether habitat heterogeneity is beneficial to predatory arthropods in rice fields and thereby the natural control of rice pests, and whether habitat connectivity can help conserve predatory arthropod populations. [Methods]  The diversity and abundance of predatory arthropods in 20 natural paddy fields with different levels of marginal habitat heterogeneity and connectivity in a hilly region of central Hunan province were investigated using community ecology methods. The diversity and abundance of predatory arthropods was compared between 10 pairs of relatively high heterogeneity (RHH) and low heterogeneity (RLH) marginal habitat rice fields, and 10 pairs of relatively high connectivity (RHGC) and relatively poor connectivity (RHPC) paddy fields. [Results]  Species richness in 6 and 7 pairs of fields was higher in RHH fields than in RLH fields in the early and late rice growing periods, respectively. Total species richness in RHH fields was 1.13 times higher than that in RLH fields, but this difference was not significant (P>0.05). The number of individuals per unit area in 8 pairs of fields was higher in RHH than in RLH fields both in the early and late rice growing periods. The total number of individuals in RHH fields was higher than in RLH fields in early rice crops, although this difference was not significant (P>0.05) it was significantly different to the number measured in late rice (P<0.05). In 10 and 8 pairs of fields, the ratio of predatory natural enemies to main rice pests (Npi) was higher in RHH than in RLH fields in both early and late rice crops but these differences were not significant (P>0.05). Species richness in 9 pairs of fields was higher in RHGC than in RHPC fields in both early and late rice crops. The number of individuals per unit area in all 10 pairs of fields was significantly higher in RHGC than RHPC fields in both early and late rice crops (P<0.01). In the early rice season, the Npi values of all 10 RHGC and RHPC fields were>1, whereas in the late rice season the Npi values of 8 RHGC fields and 6 RHPC fields were>1. [Conclusion]  The number of predatory natural enemies in RHH fields was significantly higher than in LHH fields. Habitat heterogeneity and connectivity significantly increases the number of predatory natural enemies in rice fields, and the potential for ecological control in such fields is obviously better than in fields with low habitat heterogeneity and poor connectivity. High habitat heterogeneity and connectivity increase the numbers of predatory natural enemies in rice fields, thereby facilitating the natural control of rice pests.