For over 100 years it has been recognized that insect pests evolve resistance to chemical pesticides. More recently, managers have advocated restrained use of pesticides, crop rotation, the use of multiple pesticides, and pesticide-free sanctuaries as resistance management practices. Game theory provides a conceptual framework for combining the resistance strategies of the insects and the control strategies of the pest manager into a unified conceptual and modelling framework. Game theory can contrast an ecologically enlightened application of pesticides with an evolutionarily enlightened one. In the former case the manager only considers ecological consequences whereas the latter anticipates the evolutionary response of the pests. Broader applications of this game theory approach include anti-biotic resistance, fisheries management and therapy resistance in cancer.

一百多年来，人们已经认识到害虫对化学农药产生了抗药性。最近，管理者提倡限制使用农药，轮作，使用多种农药和无农药的保护区作为抗药性管理措施。博弈论提供了一个概念框架，将昆虫的抗性策略和害虫管理者的控制策略结合到一个统一的概念和建模框架中。博弈论可以将一种在生态上受到启发的农药与一种在进化上受到启发的农药进行对比。在前一种情况下，管理者仅考虑生态后果，而后一种情况则预期有害生物的进化反应。这种博弈论方法的广泛应用包括抗药性，