A viscous formulation based on castor oil containing the pyrethroid insecticide cyfluthrin and E8, E10‐dodecadienol, the main component of the codling moth sex pheromone, (Cydia pomonella L.: Tortricidae, Olethreutinae) was developed. The insecticidal performance of the formulation was evaluated in the laboratory using a tarsal‐contact bioassay. The pheromone dosage required to attract male moths to the formulation was determined in behavioural tests performed in a wind tunnel. The efficacy of formulations applied to seedlings of the host plant was further investigated in glasshouse experiments conducted with male moths in small wire‐gauze cages. The laboratory tests resulted in a formulation for preliminary field trials containing 4% cyfluthrin and 0.1% pheromone. During the 1995 growing season, experiments were conducted in apple orchards at three locations in Germany. The formulation was first applied to the bark of apple trees (Malus domestica) in mid May and then again in late July. A good level of control, comparable with a spray treatment using the insect growth regulator Alsystin was achieved. The potential of the attract and kill strategy, combining selective attraction of a pest species with the efficacy associated with a pyrethroid insecticide treatment, as a means of controlling the codling moth in commercial apple growing, is discussed.