what are these little bugs on my JM?

[WIlliam_Butler_Yeets]

Was moving some trees back to the bench after being under the patio cover for the night due to a frost warning and saw these little creatures in the trunk of a Japanese Maple, they are reddish-brown and less than a centimeter in length, I hit them with some neem oil already

 

[JudyB]

Quite possibly larval form of scale insect. Image doesn't show enough detail to be sure of that, do they move fast? The higher one looks maybe like a springtail?

 

[WIlliam_Butler_Yeets]

Quite possibly larval form of scale insect. Image doesn't show enough detail to be sure of that, do they move fast? The higher one looks maybe like a springtail?

They did not seem to be too quick but I was eager to rub them off the trunk so I squished a few and spritzed the rest then had to get back inside to work

 

[JudyB]

They did not seem to be too quick but I was eager to rub them off the trunk so I squished a few and spritzed the rest then had to get back inside to work

Springtails are fast, scale are slow.

 

[rockm]

They’re likely spider mites.

 

[WIlliam_Butler_Yeets]

I think maybe a bit bigger than spider mites, maybe something aphid-y? I got another pic of a couple on my lunch

 

[bwaynef]

They’re likely spider mites.

All spider mites I've ever seen have been TINY. These are orders of magnitude larger than any spider mites I've dealt with. I've got a microscope that pairs with my phone I used to get pictures once. Other than that, a powerful hand lens was required to spot them.

 

[JudyB]

Yeah these look like some larval stage of something, but I can’t seem to I’d it when I go looking.

 

[Paradox]

Too big to be spider mites
Look like aphids to me
There are some that do suck on bark

 

[WIlliam_Butler_Yeets]

Too big to be spider mites
Look like aphids to me
There are some that do suck on bark

Guess I'm adding some ladybugs to the shopping list, and another sprayer thing for insecticidal soap maybe

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Aphids.

 

[JudyB]

My aphids have always been greenish, but I see now that there are many different aphids types out there.

 

[rockm]

Yeah aphids.

 

[Baron von Smoogle]

Brown Ambrosia Aphids is my guess.

 

[Paradox]

My aphids have always been greenish, but I see now that there are many different aphids types out there.

Ive seen green, black and brown aphids.

 

[KateM]

If they are just under 1 cm, they are probably true bug lavae. Maybe leaf footed bug?

 

[Shibui]

Mites have 8 legs. these have 6 legs so not mites.
Ambrosia aphids should have a pair of black spines out the back. I can't see any spines so maybe not ambrosia?
These are a bit more wrinkled and hairy than most aphids I know but I'll go along with aphids of some sort for now.