It was recommended that I use your site to get exact identification of small dark green bugs on new leaves of Viridis Japanese Maple. I noticed a several of these small dark green/black bugs completely covering new growth of Maple on May 2nd. There are hundreds of them. I live in east end Toronto. The tree is 5 years old. What should I do?
Dear gardener, thank you for sending your question to the Toronto Master Gardeners. How terribly distressing to have hundreds of bugs on your beautiful Viridis Japanese Maple tree.
Unfortunately, I am having difficulty identifying what the insect/disease is. Would it be possible to improve the quality of your photograph and send your question again? Could you take a close-up photograph of the bug itself and submit that photo? And are you sure that it is a bug? Is it moving, does it have legs, and does it have a head? That would help us to identify the bug/disease/scale that is infesting your Japanese Maple tree.
In the meanwhile, this article may be useful to you to identify your “bugs”: pests and diseases of Japanese Maple trees
May 7, 2021