Species richness and composition of Staphylinidae communities were investigated at ground level when differently treated with pesticides and in abandoned apple and pear orchards in Hungary. Altogether 6099 individuals were collected belonging to 241 staphylinid species. 233 have been identified to species level and 8 staphylinid taxa were determined up to generic level. More than 20% of the Hungarian staphylinid fauna was represented in the orchards. The similarity (Jaccard index) between apple and pear orchards at ground level were 54%. The species richness in each orchard varied between 23 and 100 species. The most widely occurring species in orchard ground level were: Dinaraea angustula, Palporus nitidulus, Tachyporus hypnorum, Sphenoma abdominale, Omalium caesum, Philonthus carbonarius, Drusilla canaliculata, Sepedophilus marshami, Mocyta orbata, Coprochara bipustulata, Mocyta fungi, Hyponygrus angustatus, Purrolinus laeticeps, Paraphallus linearis, Omalium cursor, Heterothops dissimilis and Atheta crassicornis.