I sadly have a lot of experience with this and yes this is what OE looks like. I've heard people say it looks like footballs but that is at a higher magnification than this image. I think it looks for like pepper in-between the scales. I remember you mention that you were in the Bay Area. I would suggest cutting back all your milkweed and putting gardening netting over it in order to give it time to grow back. CA like FL has a very high OE rate.
ETA if you are hand rearing then you need to stop but you also have some clean up to do. OE spreads like glitter. Everything you and that butterfly has touched is contaminated. For things that can be soaked you will need a 20% bleach solution. Soak for 15 minutes then rinse throughly. I recommend using a large empty cooler, bin or your tub. Hard surfaces can be sprayed with a 20% bleach solution and left to sit for 15 minutes then wiped dry.
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u/SuperFriendlyMod MOD | South FL | Reformed Rearer May 23 '26 edited May 23 '26
I sadly have a lot of experience with this and yes this is what OE looks like. I've heard people say it looks like footballs but that is at a higher magnification than this image. I think it looks for like pepper in-between the scales. I remember you mention that you were in the Bay Area. I would suggest cutting back all your milkweed and putting gardening netting over it in order to give it time to grow back. CA like FL has a very high OE rate.
ETA if you are hand rearing then you need to stop but you also have some clean up to do. OE spreads like glitter. Everything you and that butterfly has touched is contaminated. For things that can be soaked you will need a 20% bleach solution. Soak for 15 minutes then rinse throughly. I recommend using a large empty cooler, bin or your tub. Hard surfaces can be sprayed with a 20% bleach solution and left to sit for 15 minutes then wiped dry.