Methods of attraction for insect annihilation fall into two general categories: (i) those that attract only one sex, usually males, by means of pheromones, and (ii) those that attract both sexes. In the first case, the situation is similar to the sterile release technique, inasmuch as males are competing with pheromone traps for females, and both the models and the associated population dynamics are similar to those of the sterile insect technique. In the second case, a proportion of both sexes in the population are removed and the situation is more similar to the use of insecticides. Results of models are presented together with their strengths and shortcomings, and an assessment is made of the usefulness of modelling in this context.