I planted two weeping cedars in my yard in June this year, one in a pot, one in the ground, not together. Yesterday, I was inspecting the blue cedar and notices dark patches on some of the branches. The patches looked like "wet" bark, so I picked up a branch and touched the area only to discover that the dark spot was a thick disgusting coating of darkish colored bugs that resemble tics or lice or very large aphid. Yikes! My skin is still crawling! I got some on my fingertips and they felt sticky like sap. I've never seen anything like this. I checked out my other potted cedar, and sure enough they were on it as well. I sprayed with a general plant insecticide, but I had to hit virtually every branch. How could this infestation happen so fast, what are these disgusting critters?
how do i prevent infestation of these giant aphid? I have a blue cedar in my backyard, but have never had a problem, no aphid or whatever at all still don't.
Thank you Ron B, I took samples of the insects to a nursery this weekend, and I think you are very close to the answer. I was told that it is a "harlequin bug" behaves very like aphid and that what I had were the nymphs of this bug which I thought were huge already, the nurseryman told me they get huge like a small beetle! So there you have it. They do seem to go for cedar and will eventually destroy the tree if left untreated. A typical plant insecticide is indicated to kill on contact.
