Compare with Rudbeckia laciniata.

Yes, one of those has similar leaves! Now the question...whatever is eating it has pretty much devoured all the leaves so is it worth keeping?

mine used to get attacked by slugs, especially when younger

it got better after 2-3 years and with slug pellets

they want some water otherwise IME very hardy plants for a backdrop of a border

sometimes they do sprawl, I like them in larger borders

Yes, I found beetles and worms (not slugs) plus droppings! I'll have to think about this one...maybe after they bloom I'll decide if they're worth the effort.

You could start by blasting the foliage with the hose several days running to clean it up a bit and dislodge caterpillars.

Rudbeckia laciniata is EXTREMELY agressive and will continue to spread into a huge monoculture. Unless you want to annually root prune it back, I would replace it with something less agressive. Birds feed caterpillars to their young so please consider using a pesticide that isn't toxic to birds, or better yet hang a couple wren houses nearby.

Thanks for the info and tips! Since I wasn't very impressed last fall when it was in flower and falling over, it'll probably be pulled out. That back border is crazy full and needs some negative space to appreciate the good stuff!

I would want to ID the caterpillars, or maybe the others in this discussion already know this plant does not host any butterfly caterpillars. I've never checked it.

I have many wrens in my yard and still the bugs! The caterpillars are tiny!

you need to go zen ...

first.. if the bugs only attack that plant ... either leave them to it ... treat with something that will get rid of them .. or just get rid of the plant.. lifes to short.. and im sure there are a bazillion other plants to try in that spot ...

my point.. if i had one ... you dont have to fix it ... so what if the leaves are not pristine ... life in the garden isnt a disney movie.. and thank god for that.. lol .. boy that has new meaning lately.. lol ...

once you embrace Gods wonders.. AKA the bugs ... you realize not everything has to get fixed .. though of course.. if the plague is on the verge of destroying a plant.. then fix it.. but frankly.. that rarely happens ... else the bugs would eat themselves into starvation and oblivion .... [i have the same opinion on the fun fungi that many peeps think bee to be destroyed immediately ... they are really cool.. and usually a free show of ma nature ...]

ken

Ken...did you see my post about my location? Kzoo!

In order to have butterflies, there must be caterpillars. Some plants will be eaten. It's part of gardening.

FWIW, moths have caterpillars too - and unlike butterflies, they'll eat almost everything...

Moths have specific host plants same as butterflies. Their caterpillars can't eat any plant they choose. They may have a few different, unrelated species that they use, but many butterflies use a few specific non related species too. And both moths and butterflies can use several different plant species in the same family. Giant Swallowtails use Ruta, Dictamnus, Ptelea, and Citrus which are all in the same family. Tomato Sphinx moths will use any Solanaceae species. Black Swallowtails will use any Apiaceae species. Buckeye caterpillars will feed on plants in Verbenaceae, and Plantaganaceae. Black Swallowtails will also eat Ruta gravolens which is Citrus family. Many moths have one specific host plant, and there are a few moths that will use many different plant species. Black Swallowtail caterpillars can eat Conium maculatum, Cicuta virrosa, and Heracleum mantegazzianum with no adverse effects.

https://livingwithinsects.wordpress.com/2015/01/25/living-with-the-rattlesnake-master-borer/

Yes, moths specialise too. We’ve recently acquired the alien Box Moth. Guess what that eats ... and how! Devastation.

At first I thought that maybe it ate cardboard boxes, but it eats Buxus, Euonymus, and Ilex species. It's here in the states now too. I hope it doesn't show up in my area. This is a bizarre specialist.

https://academic.oup.com/ae/article/51/4/245/2474782

This moth is in danger, as is the tortoise. Developers have been allowed to develop some of the tortoises last refuges. Florida's greedy corrupt governor puts money before the environment. If the first link doesn't open...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceratophaga_vicinella

Yes, we call the plant Box over here, not Boxwood. That’s used for the actual timber.

This is what the moth caterpillars did in my garden over a long weekend when I was away and let up on the vigilance.

That is devastating. We were decimated by Gypsy moths last year. They completely denuded my apple trees and there were swaths of forest laid bare.

Emerald Ash borer is killing ash sp. I have lost all but one Butternut - Juglans cinerea to butternut canker fungus and it is fading fast. Pine & birch borers then Hemlock Woolly Adelgid is getting closer. Sad.

This is scary stuff! I feel fortunate that just the one plant is eaten...well, except for a sad rose that was planted in full shade (who does that?) and has been eaten down to the stems! If it survives, I'll move it in the fall.

For some reason moths are much more damaging than butterflies, at least in general.

bengz6westmd, some moth caterpillars, especially saturniid moths are huge. They eat more leaves, but overall don't harm their host trees.

MPE is similar to bengz6's. Butterfly caterpillars here seem more narrowly linked to specific plants, while moth larvae will eat a wider range of plants - like army, cut, and fruit worms, among others.

Floral, I hope your boxwood recovers. We're the caterpillars eating the bark when you returned?

No. They only eat the leaves.

Moths are more numerous than butterflies. More moths are seen in headlights at night than butterflies seen by day. Moths lay clusters of eggs while many butterflies lay eggs singly.

I believe you floral, I read differently from the U S Department of Agriculture.

Right. I haven’t read up on the moths. I was just going by my observation. Perhaps I got rid of them before they began on the bark. This is serious since Box is native here and there are some stands of old trees which it would be tragic to lose. Box Hill wouldn't be the same without the Box. 🙁

It's possible that by the time they were done ravishing your Buxus they were ready to pupate, and never needed to eat the bark?