This paper reviews and analyses literature on the effect of plant species diversity on crop pests. It is observed that populations of several crop insect pest species are depressed under conditions of plant species diversity. The factors responsible for this depression are: parasites, predators, masking, camouflage, repellency, less colonization, resource concentration, unfavourable microclimate, physical obstraction and trap cropping. Natural enemies account for more than half of the cases where the pest population was claimed to be regulated in the weed-diversity systems. However, under conditions of crop–crop diversity, natural enemy action accounted for less than a third of the cases reviewed. It is further observed that most of the reviewed crop–crop diversity systems were of annual crops. It is therefore concluded that under conditions of annual cropping natural enemies are probably of lesser importance than other regulating factors.