Tests of various known contact insecticides on the harlequin bug, Murgantia histrionica, brought out the fact that certain soap solutions are very effective but only under conditions of low evaporation. Further experiments under known rates of evaporation show that the efficiency of soap solution is indirectly proportional to the rate of evaporation. The addition of hygroscopic substances did not materially increase the effectiveness. Tests with several kinds of soap and two other species of insects show that the relationship is probably a general one.
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B. B. Fulton (1930) studied this question.
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