Date: 08/18/2021

Number: 11

Hi,
I wasn't sure how to report this but I felt like you should know. I usually have a ton of monarchs in my yard, eating, laying eggs, etc. While there are still a good amount of adults flying around and females laying eggs on the milkweed, many of the caterpillars are not doing well. The eggs hatch and the caterpillars seem ok at first, but then they stop eating and die at or before the first instar. They roll around, lose their color,and sometimes drip green liquid. I have seen this happen to at least 11 caterpillars in the past 3 weeks. This is happening to them on all my different types of milkweed (all plants/offspring of plants that have been around for years with no problem). I've been monitoring monarchs in my yard for many years and have seen a few perish in this way but this is happening on a massive scale this year. If you have any info about why this might be happening or anything I can do, please let me know.
Thanks.

Richmond, CA

Latitude: 37.9 Longitude: -122.3

Observed by: Anne
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