Pests Eating Crape Myrtle and Clematis

Question

I’m hoping you can answer a couple questions. First, I live in east Tennessee and have something eating on my crape myrtle leaves. They almost look like a piece of screen where they are eaten so bad. It’s not all of them, but just a few towards the top of the plant, which is about 3′ high. Second thing is I have a small clematis I planted about a month ago. It is approximately a foot high and has something eating small holes in the leaves. I tried the snail and slug bait that you sprinke on the ground. I also sprayed it with Orthenex and even Sevin. It still seems something is chewing on it. Any advice would be appreciated.

Answer 1

Sounds like both instances may be coming from Japanese beetles. The following articles should be of some help to you: https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/trees/crepe-myrtle/crepe-myrtle-tree-problems.htm
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/plant-problems/pests/insects/japanese-beetles.htm
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/plant-problems/pests/insects/japanese-beetle-resistant-plants.htm