Hi,
Are there any resources about caterpillar diseases? A Google search gave me some information about poisoning that causes vomiting and black death. I had a caterpillar I found in a cut-down forest die in the matter of several days. It was a nearly fully grown fox moth, so I wanted to feed it for a bit and release it in an area where I’ve seen other caterpillars of the species. The first day it was eating quite a bit, aspen and a bit of birch. The day after it was moving and eating less. Then it didn’t touch any food and it was resting most of the time. In the evening, I noticed it wriggle three times, bending its body sharply to the left, a bit like trying to scratch its side, then sharply to the right and then again to the left. I interpreted this as it being in pain. Then the day after it stopped moving, so it has died at some point. There was no vomit anywhere. I put some water droplets several times a day and the first two days, it would go and drink some, but I didn’t see it look for water later. I would imagine that if it were getting dehydrated, it would try finding water. It was just a couple centimetres away, so even if weak, I guess it would be able to take several steps forward. Do you know what could have happened? Are there any resources to read more about illnesses? Are there any known ways of treatment for some diseases? Thank you!
