Previous research has shown that wild kiwifruit orchards have gradually been replaced by cultivated kiwifruit orchards. The arthropod community in cultivated kiwifruit orchard can changes over time, from the community that arises after colonization, to the climax community that establishes over the long term. In this study, we investigate the temporal changes in the arthropod community and the niche of the main groups found in kiwifruit orchards. Arthropod communities were surveyed in a wild orchard and three cultivated kiwifruit orchards of different ages (three years, nine years and 14 years), and we used the data to calculate various community indices and spatial-temporal dimensional niches of the main species groups. Approximately 90 species were identified, which belonged to three classes, 15 orders and 74 families. Main species groups in the arthropod communities were apparent in the four types of kiwifruit orchards. There was considerable variation in the number of different species groups. The proportions of different species groups in the wild kiwifruit orchard were similar; however, in cultivated orchards, species groups that are considered as pest formed a large proportion of the community. The differences in community indices (diversity index, evenness and dominance) between wild and cultivated orchards were statistically significant (P<0.01). The community stability of the wild kiwifruit orchard was the highest, followed by the nine-year and 14-year kiwifruit orchards, with the three-year kiwifruit orchard having the lowest. There were clear changes in the niches of species groups as the age of the orchard increased. The niches of spiders and flies were broad in the cultivated orchards, regardless of age. However, during early cultivation, the hawthorn spider mite and leafhoppers were the dominant groups with a wide niche. Because of high niche overlap, there was strong competition between Microgramme spp. and the hawthorn spider mite. Microgramme spp. and gall midge gradually replaced the hawthorn spider mite and leafhoppers to become the main pests with broad niches. Taken together, the results suggest that the arthropod community of the natural ecological system was more stable, with high species evenness, than the arthropod community that colonizes and becomes established in cultivated kiwifruit orchards, which have obviously been disturbed by human activities. Therefore, we find an important difference in the characteristics of community in wild and cultivated kiwifruit orchards, which may help the development of a theoretical basis of integrated pest management.