What are the signs of Crape Myrtle Bark Scale? When a customer calls or comes in with black sooty mold showing up on their Crape Myrtle leaves, trunks or even plants underneath the tree, the first thing we look for is aphids. The second thing we look for is Crape Myrtle Bark Scale. Although this introduced species from China, Japan and Korea is not as common as aphids on Crape Myrtles, we are seeing it more and more frequently in recent years. Like aphids, this scale insect has sucking mouthparts [...]