Writhing in agony....why??

[madamebutterfly]

Hi Friends,
I haven't been here yet this year, I've been doing less collecting this year because of a bad OE year last year, figured doing less would be less heartbreak but even with fewer babies the pain and problems return.....I was happy with the first 10 healthy butterflies but now....I've had 2 small caterpillars do the writhing in agony dance, I don't remember what causes that, is it OE or poison milkweed? I've been trying to use just milkweed from my own prolific non-pesticided garden, but think some leaves have come in with eggs collected from other places. I've got one pillar that leaves a green trail where he's been, I isolated him and am giving him what I hope is clean milkweed, we'll see what he does......
I hope everyone is having a great summer!!!!
Cheers!!
Sheryl

[Mona Miller]

You got the flies, drought causes the milkweed to be more toxic, you got the bacteria, the viruses... I think if you put in the search "flies" you get a lot of info. Just try some different words, I think "writhing" will work or "agony". Some of us have had an agonizing year already.

Major disinfecting is a good idea. Look for Project Monarch Health.