Hummingbird and Butterfly Gardening: Infected chrysalises, 1 by konkreteblond

konkreteblond wrote:
I thought I would share these pics so that others might learn. I think my cage had a virus in it. I'm actually hoping someone will know if that's what happened.

I released some Black Swallowtail's from it but then the remaining chrysalises never eclosed and turned a orangish color that I've never seen before. Then one by one the Monarch chrysalises started to get the dreaded black dot then they turned colors. I've only had a few of them die before and the chrysalis just got a black spot that got bigger but never anything like this.

I cleaned out all the chrysalises, sprayed it down, then I sprayed it down with bleach/water and left it in the sun for a few days to bake and disinfect it. I sure hope that worked.