In order to evaluate the potential of sticky coloured plates for monitoring and trapping insect pests and araneids in tea gardens, 10 types of sticky coloured plates were field tested in both organic (in Shaoxing) and non\|polluted (in Hangzhou) tea gardens in October 2008 when most of insects were abundant and active. And each colour repeated 10 times. The results showed that: (1) the numbers of orders, families and species trapped in Shaoxing tea garden were approximatively same as those in Hangzhou tea garden, with only a few of araneids. Over a 24 h period, 10200 individuals of insects and araneids of 53 families belonging to 9 orders were trapped in the organic tea garden in Shaoxing, on the ten types of sticky coloured plates. 21526 individual of insects and araneids of 63 families belonging to 10 orders were trapped in the non\|polluted tea garden in Hangzhou over a 72 h trapping period. (2) The Homoptera was the most dominant group. On the pure white plates in the Shaoxing, the numbers of Homopteran species and individuals accounted for 15.2% and 34.1% of the total trapped species and individuals, respectively. Numbers of Homopteran species trapped on other 9 coloured plates were 21.2%-31.0% of their corresponding total numbers of species trapped, whereas the numbers of Homopteran individuals trapped accounted for 45.8%-75.4% of their total trapped individuals. In non\|polluted tea garden in Hangzhou, the numbers of Homopteran species trapped by pure white, sea blue and sky blue plates were < 20% of their corresponding total number of species trapped; the numbers of Homopteran individuals were less than 51% of their totals. The numbers of Homopteran species trapped by other 7 types of coloured plates were more than 22.7%, in which Homopteran individuals trapped by apple green and ink green plates accounted for 48.6% and 49.8% of their corresponding totals, while the Homopteran numbers of individuals trapped by peach red, jasmine yellow, stone yellow, bud green and orange sticky plates were 55.5%-78.1% of their total catches. In the Shaoxing tea garden, the total numbers of whiteflies, tea green leafhoppers and ricaniids on the jasmine yellow and bud green plates accounted for 67.7% and 50.1% of their total individuals trapped, respectively; in the Hangzhou tea garden, they were 70.7% and 59.2%, respectively. (3) Most of the trapped insects were pests. The pest to natural enemy ratio of individual numbers was 1.93 in organic tea garden in Shaoxing, and was 2.23 in the non\|polluted tea garden in Hangzhou. (4) The numbers of species and individuals trapped on the different sticky coloured plates were significant different. Jasmine yellow and bud green plates trapped the highest numbers of species and individuals with a very low index of biodiversity H′, especially for leafhoppers, whiteflies, ricaniids and other Homopteran insects. Stone yellow and orange traps also showed high numbers of species and individuals (with low H′), the Homopteran insects in particular. Pure white plates captured decent numbers of species and individuals; however, its H′ was the highest, indicating relatively even number of individuals among the trapped species. The numbers of species and individuals captured on apple green, peach red, ink green or sea blue plates were low compared to the above mentioned coloured plates (with low H′), while sky blue was the least attractive colour.(5) Tachinidae preferred the blue over the other colours, while mymarids, braconid wasps and Chalcidoidea preferred the bud green. It is suggested that the jasmine yellow and bud green sticky plates, combined with pheromones, can be used to monitor and control the leafhopper and the whitefly in tea gardens.