Also, I don't know how insecticidal soaps are different from dish
washing soaps, but I do know what the dish washing soap will do. Barry is
correct in that it breaks down lipids. The lipids are in the waxy layer on
the chitinous shell of the insect. Breaking down that waxy layer can do
everything from totally destroying the rigidity of the shell and thus the
insect literally falls apart, to allowing water to escape from the insect at
far too rapid a rate for it to replace, thus death by desiccation. Desiccation
would take anywhere from half an hour to 3 days, depending on the size of the
insect and the temperature, but it WILL get them. *evil laugh*
Matthew