Milkweed Leaves Bleeding Green Fluid

[Gwynne]

Hi, I hope someone can help me out. I gathered a bunch of milkweed last Friday from two spots that were about ten or twenty feet apart from each other. I have been having problems finding decent looking milkweed so I got enough to last for several days. I put the milkweed in cups of water in the refrigerator to keep it fresh.

My caterpillars were fine until this morning. They are in three separate cages. Two of them in separate cages look lethargic. In those two cages, I saw that the leaves are bleeding/dripping green. I have been battling pesticides with my BSTs all summer and I can say for sure that it is the milkweed, and not the frass that is green. Also, I had set a clump of milkweed down on top of one of my mesh cages and it stained the cage green, so I know it is the leaves that are bleeding/dripping green.

I am assuming something is wrong with this milkweed and that is why two of the caterpillars are sick.

All of the milkweed was gathered fairly close together but only certain milkweed is bleeding. What would cause milkweed to bleed green fluid?

Thanks for any help you can give me.

[Mona Miller]

The only thing that I can think of is how the milkweed reacted sitting in the water in the frig. I never put water on my milkweed when I store it. I just put it into plastic bags and put into the frig.