The enemies hypothesis holds that predatory insects are more effective at controlling pests than mechanical or chemical control methods (Russell 1989). Parsons and Frank (2019) found evidence recently that by not including environments for predators around urban trees, pests can get out of control. They studied several hundred crape myrtle trees on the NC State campus and the types of environments that are around the trees, and found a positive correlation between crape myrtle pests and impervious cover (hardscape) within 100 meters of the trees. Diverse environments provide more opportunity for diverse beneficial controls.
Russell. 1990. Enemies Hypothesis: A review of the effect of vegetational diversity on predatory insects. Environmental Entomology 18(4).
Parsons, S. and Frank S. 2019. Urban tree pests and natural enemies respond to habitat at different spatial scales. Journal of Urban Ecology 5(1).
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