Aphids are one of those odd bugs that fly at certain points in the on-going life cycle and don't at others. They probably few in at one point last year, and are now living permanently in/on the tree. If you can find a bunch of ladybugs and release them near the tree it might help, 'though maybe not for this year - I'm not sure how long the ladybug cycle is - since ladybug nymphs eat aphids, and the LBs will lay eggs where there is a goodly supply of aphids. Otherwise, a sharp spray of water will wash off a lot of them, - once off the plant, the crawling ones can't get back. Leaves infested with aphids will curl, so that's probably the answer to that. If you can look closely at any of the curled leaves, there are - or were - probably a "nice" population of aphids on the back. For scale photos, if you use Google and hit the Images icon above the "box", you should get more than you want to look at. Just be sure to specify insects, or you will get all sorts of other strange things!

I first noticed these things on a patio umbrella I bought from Aldi. They appeared about 1-2 weeks after I bought it & put it up. I just now noticed that I have these same things on my lilac trees, but they are brown. The ones on the umbrella are white. Any ideas?

Thanks for your reply Ken, I also thought that maybe it was just being late to bud but then I saw the little bugs all over the stems and panicked because I have over 30 Japanese Maples in my garden and do not want to lose any. The first pic gave the best image of the little beast! The picture with this post is the tree that is most affected. Yesterday, I went to my local garden center with the pic (i was able to blow it up on my phone) and they thought it was scale. I used Provado Ultimate bug killer and the little blighters seem to be loosening their grip on the stems and dying already. I hope this post will help others. Thank you to everyone that replied.

hey welcome to GW .... first.. see link next.. is your product labeled for monthly use?? and that aside.. the mature ones are impervious to any treatment with their waxy coating.. and you must ID when the babes crawl out and are susceptible to the oil ... and that is once a year .. not monthly ... you are wasting product/money.. if nothing else ... third.. ants are usually around.. to 'milk' honeydew from whatever it is ... they are irrelevant to it all ... and the black is usually a mold as a result of the honeydew ... in other words.. get rid of the scale.. the ants will move on.. and sooner or later the mildew will go away ... the real problem.. is that the mature ones.. look no different if they are dead or alive.. just because you kill them.. doesnt mean they are going to disappear ... and frankly.. when it comes to this point.. i usually have a hard time 'looking' at them for years to come ... and it is then i think about cutting them down ... now i know nothing about this plant.. as i didnt even know it existed before your post ... but if it is like many hedges or flowering shrubs.. there is probably no reason you couldnt cut them to near ground level.. remove EVERYTHING.. treat the stumps for remnants of scale ... and within a few months.. just about have your hedge back .. since there is no insult to the root mass ... and in the meanwhile.. have removed 99.99% of the problem ... [i would burn it.. and find some satisfaction in sending them to the Elysian fields ...funeral pyre and all that ..]... hopefully you can find out if rejuvenation pruning' is an option with this plant .. good luck ken Here is a link that might be useful: link