Large narcissus fly

Peter Taggart petersirises@gmail.com
Sat, 26 Oct 2013 13:45:00 PDT
I believe that the soap forms a bubble which blocks the insects spiracles,
- air holes, thus suffocating it. When  a plant is thoroughly wetted with
soapy water, or suds, most insect infestations seem to perish. I don't
believe that the plant would need to be submerged for very long!
I have flushed grubs out of bulbs with a jet of water.
Peter (UK)


On Sat, Oct 26, 2013 at 7:07 PM, Leo A. Martin <leo@possi.org> wrote:

> I haven't had this pest, but a dense mealybug infestation in fine-spined
> cactus can be
> dealt with by submerging the entire plant in soapy water for a day or two,
> then draining
> and allowing to dry. The insects drown. The soap is necessary to wet the
> waxy coat on
> most insects.
>



More information about the pbs mailing list