[Aim]  To evaluate the synergistic effects of the functional plants Cnidium monnieri and Vicia faba on the conservation of predatory natural enemies in wheat fields, as well as their potential application in sustainable integrated pest management, to provide a scientific basis for the application of functional plants in wheat-rice rotation systems. [Methods]  Field experiments were conducted at two sites in Zhejiang Province; Deqing and Jiashan. The effects of three different treatments; intercropping C. monnieri with V. faba, a C. monnieri monoculture, and a control with no treatment, on the population dynamics of predatory natural enemies, were measured and compared. [Results]  The functional plant strip intercropped with C. monnieri and V. faba was significantly more attractive to syrphid flies (particularly Episyrphus balteatus and Sphaerophoria macrogaster) compared to the C. monnieri monoculture (P < 0.05). The population of syrphid flies on the intercropped functional plant strip was increased by over 37.1% compared with the C. monnieri monoculture. There were only minor differences in the population of spiders and ladybugs between the two functional plant treatments, but both had significantly higher numbers of these predators than the control (P < 0.05). During the wheat-rice transition period, the population of predatory natural enemies on field ridges intercropped with C. monnieri and V. faba increased by 49.4% compared with the C. monnieri monoculture. [Conclusion]  Functional plant strips not only conserve the natural enemies of insect pests during the wheat growing season but also continue to provide habitats for these biological control agents after the wheat harvest.