Caterpiller looks like he has died

by Linda
(Isanti, MN)

Hello,
I just started raising Monarchs this summer here in MN. I had 3 caterpillars crawl to the top of the container, two have already pupated. One is just hanging there and doesn't seem to be alive. It has been two days, he isn't in a J shape, just straight.
Does this happen often and can you tell me why it happened?
Thanks,
Linda

Karen says:
There are bacterial diseases and other reasons that monarch caterpillars die. Remove dead larvae and clean their containers well with a 20% bleach solution to prevent the spread of disease to any new caterpillars that you raise. You did nothing wrong. If all of your caterpillars died there might have been bacterial spores on the milkweed plant that infected the caterpillars.