A Population Model to Assess the Effect of Sex Pheromones on Population Suppression

Abstract

A population model to assess the effect of sex pheromones on the suppression of insect pest population was presented and simulation tests were conducted with the model. The effect of population size on the degree of suppression was stronger in the mass trapping method than in the disruption method. The trap efficiency in capturing males and relative attactiveness of the trap to the wild females within an area permeated with both pheromones had less effect on suppression rate. The ratio of males captured by the traps to the total number of males emerged, or the rate of females mated per day is not a good measure of the degree of population suppression in the next generation.