The development of physiological resistance in insect populations of agricultural and public health importance to insecticides and other methods of control has taken on proportions of increasing importance. In this paper, a mathematical pest population model is presented which can be used for dynamic economic and ecological evaluation of alternative control strategies. Because of the unique nature of pest populations, the model is not directly applicable to all actual problems. However, the model is an illustration of a whole class of models that promises to remove pest control strategies from the category of ad hoc decisions.

For those empirical problems for which a benefit function can be defined, dynamic programming is suggested as a method for determining an optimal strategy over time. When it is difficult or impossible to specify a benefit function, which is frequently the case, it is suggested that Monte Carlo techniques, applied to the pest control strategies of interest, be used to determine the effects on the pest population over time.