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From: andy@syma.sussex.ac.uk (Andy Clews)
Newsgroups: rec.gardens,sci.bio
Subject: Amazing new insecticide discovered!  :-)
Message-ID: <3237@syma.sussex.ac.uk>
Date: 13 Aug 90 10:51:01 GMT
Organization: University of Sussex
Lines: 21

I'd already heard about the effectiveness of using soap to control
aphids, and I decided to try it on some of my plants that were infested.
The affected plants are dwarf Dahlias and a patch of Mesembryanthemum.
The aphids are also attracting large numbers of ants, which are
"farming" them for the honeydew. 

So, I made a solution of bio-degradable washing-up liquid (one large
squirt to a pint of water) in a spray bottle, and treated the affected areas. 
To my surprise, the ants seemed to be stopped in the tracks upon contact
with the spray, and they seemed to be dead within seconds! I tried it on
a wasp too, and the same effect was obtained, although more spray was
needed. The same solution was remarkably effective against scale insects
on some orange trees which I have growing in tubs outside during the summer.

Can anyone tell me why detergent is apparently so lethal to insects? And
if this is so, why don't people use it in preference to all those nasty
chemicals? 

-- 
Andy Clews, Computing Service, Univ. of Sussex, Brighton BN1 9QN, England
JANET: andy@syma.sussex.ac.uk   BITNET: andy%syma.sussex.ac.uk@uk.ac