Humans and insects inhabit very different perceptual worlds, so human experimenters need to be aware of their perceptual biases when investigating insect behaviour. In applied entomology, human perceptual biases have been a barrier to the rational design, manufacture, and improvement of pest control devices that effectively exploit insect visual behaviour. This review describes how the influence of human perceptual bias on this area of applied entomology is being reduced by our expanding understanding of insect visual perception and use of visual modelling methods and highlights several important challenges that are yet to be overcome.