japanese beetles and dawn dish soap

[showcrop]

Adjuvent

 

[Steve in VA]

I believe the soap suffocates them.

I'm pretty sure it acts a surfactant so the insects exoskeleton is more permeable to the sevin. I use 30% vinegar and dawn as a weed killer. A mix is noticeably more efficient than vinegar alone.

 

[timcasbolt]

Would be interesting to see a comparison between Dawn dish soap and other brands.

 

[dkattau]

Beetles don’t have lungs. Air needs to circulate through holes in their body in order for them to absorb oxygen. The dish soap seals off those holes, and they suffocate.