  Controlling pest insects is a challenge of main importance to preserve crop
production. In the context of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) programs, we
develop a generic model to study the impact of mating disruption control using
an artificial female pheromone to confuse males and adversely affect their
mating opportunities. Consequently the reproduction rate is diminished leading
to a decline in the population size. For more efficient control, trapping is
used to capture the males attracted to the artificial pheromone. The model,
derived from biological and ecological assumptions, is governed by a system of
ODEs. A theoretical analysis of the model without control is first carried out
to establish the properties of the endemic equilibrium. Then, control is added
and the theoretical analysis of the model enables to identify threshold values
of pheromone which are practically interesting for field applications. In
particular, we show that there is a threshold above which the global asymptotic
stability of the trivial equilibrium is ensured, i.e. the population goes to
extinction. Finally we illustrate the theoretical results via numerical
experiments.
