Well, most gardeners want to have host plants for the swallowtail butterfly caterpillars. Next year plant some bronze fennel near your garden and they'll go to that instead. As for your broccoli, you've just discovered why many gardeners quit growing broccoli altogether. What has finally worked for me is having a mature perennial garden that attracts beneficial insects which eat the "bad guys". This is the first year I had no problem with the loopers so I'll probably try for a fall planting of broccoli now. Pest management is complex, if you wish to use chemical products, do so responsibly which goes further than reading the label. If you want to learn, a good place to start is here: Integrated Pest Management This lecture is presented in two parts. Each part is 90-minutes in length. Recorded in Sacramento County in California's Sacramento Valley, this lecture is by Mary Louise Flint, Ph.D., Director, IPM Education and Publications, UC Statewide IPM Project and Extension Entomologist & Cooperative Extension Specialist. Education: B.S. Plant Science, University of California, Davis Ph.D. Entomology, University of California, Berkeley Appointment: 100% Cooperative Extension Research Interests: Integrated pest management of landscape, agricultural and garden pests; biological control of arthropod pests; alternatives to pesticides; adoption of alternative practices by practitioners; innovative delivery of pest management information. Topics discussed in the Integrated Pest Management Lecture: * IPM references and resources * Preventing pest problems * Natural common enemies * Making less toxic pesticide choices * Controlling aphids, scales, caterpillars, coddling moths, tree borers, snails and slugs, and lawn insects. You can watch the programs now online: Just make sure you have Real Player installed or download it free. Integrated Pest Management Part1 90 minutes Integrated Pest Management Part 2 90 minutes You'll want to bookmark the following link to Professor Flint's Lab Research on: Controlling Pests in Gardens and Landscapes: Vegetables and Melons I promise you'll learn one or two things to put in your gardening bag of pest management arsenals. ;) Here is a link that might be useful: Cabbage Looper Management

D@ves Gardens says 20F for Mamillarria spinosissima .Others have it at 25F.I do see where 46F is mentioned as a minimum temperature. That might be a habitat minimum for the natural range that it is in. Mine has seen it below freezing but I take it in when it gets close to 30. All of this is given in a perfect situation, A dry in the ground situation and a brief period of the cold. Deserts plummet at night and warm back up i the day.Was your pot out in the weather and was the ground wet and how long was the freeze. The size of the pot will have the roots much colder than if it was in the ground. Also many cactus will automatically dehydrate themselves as a defense mechanism against the cold if they have been hardened of, and slowly rehydrate as it gets warmer. I do not know if this is what is going on. I would see if your soil its wet. I try to keep my cactus undercover, out of the rain when it gets under 40F. What is the soil mix like. Does it have a lot of drainage? Rot and cold are your enemy. 23 is cold. That is colder than all but the DG lowest rating. I guess this comes under the heading of learning to question authority. Eh? HINT, Do it politely and quietly after the appropriate research. I guess there is no better time to learn about your parents fallibility. We are all only human. Great lesson for life.. Hidalgo Mexico was mentioned as its natural range. One might see if one could find the plant zone for the area. Remember, many times hardiness can be more than where it lives naturally. But that is a starting place to understand rain patterns and also when to start being cautious. A lot of cactus grow in areas other that the high desert. Hidalgo is not New Mexico or Nevada. This post was edited by wantonamara on Sun, Nov 23, 14 at 19:12

The genus of all flies is Musca. This one doesn't have a red head...those are the large compound eyes, just like most other flies. Don't know the species.

Looks healthy and happy! I am happy to see you post a bit, sending you healing vibes, take care of yourself.and keep in touch.