A field survey was undertaken to investigate the community composition and seasonal dynamics of ground-dwelling arthropods in the desertified steppe of Ningxia. In order to determine inter- and intra-year changes, pitfall traps were used to collect specimens in spring, summer and autumn of 2012 and 2013. The traps captured 52 taxonomical groups belonging to 50 families, 12 orders and 2 classes. The two dominant and subdominant groups were the Melolonthidae and Formicidae families, together making up 47.34% of total ground-dwelling arthropods. There were 13 common groups, accounting for 41.95% of total individuals, and 37 rare groups making up 10.71% of total individuals. The results indicated remarkable inter- and intra-year changes in the community composition and overall abundance of ground-dwelling arthropods. The seasonal distribution pattern of ground-dwelling arthropod abundance differed from that of herbaceous vegetation. Particularly in 2013 year, the ground-dwelling arthropod abundance followed a reverse seasonal pattern to herbaceous vegetation. There was a relatively stable seasonal pattern of taxonomical richness and total biomass in both 2012 and 2013. These two indices also followed a similar seasonal pattern between 2012 and 2013 year, with the order of taxonomical richness of spring>autumn>summer and the order of total biomass of spring>summer>autumn, respectively. It was suggested that the seasonal pattern of arthropod community composition and total abundance changed much along with the inter-year climatic changes, which differed considerably from that of taxonomical richness and total biomass in addition to herbaceous vegetation.