The efficacy of various pyrethroid insecticides for use on odour-baited targets to control tsetse was compared in Zimbabwe. Formulations were applied to cotton cloth and polyester net and, at various intervals, the materials were bioassayed by exposing fed female Glossina pallidipes (Austen) (Diptera: Glossinidae) to cloth for 45 s or by inducing them to collide briefly with net. Trial formulations were compared with deltamethrin suspension concentrate (s.c.), the insecticide currently used in tsetse control operations in Zimbabwe. Applying 0.8% suspension of alphacypermethrin to cloth or net produced high mortalities for 9 months which was similar in performance to 0.4% suspension of deltamethrin s.c. Deltamethrin s.c. and beta-cyfluthrin s.c. applied to cloth as 0.1% suspensions were equally effective, producing high mortalities for 2 months during the wet season, and 0.8% suspension of beta-cyfluthrin was effective for 12 months. Suspensions of 0.1% lambdacyhalothrin capsule suspension or 0.1% lambdacyhalothrin wettable powder were significantly less effective than 0.1% deltamethrin s.c. Chemical analyses showed that increasing the concentration of insecticide applied to material increased the initial amount of insecticide on the material and decreased the subsequent rate of loss; 0.1% suspension of beta-cyfluthrin s.c. applied to cloth produced an initial concentration of approximately 280 mg/m2 which declined by 94% in 12 months whereas 0.8% suspension showed no significant decrease in concentration (mean= 1304 mg/m2) over the same period. For controlling tsetse by means of pyrethroid-treated targets, it is suggested that beta-cyfluthrin s.c. is as effective as deltamethrin s.c. but that alphacypermethrin s.c. should be used at twice the concentration of deltamethrin s.c. to obtain the same performance.