I have a very pretty crape myrtle in my front yard with beautifully shedding bark. However, I noticed a couple of months ago, that shedding bark was giving way to a very disfigured looking trunk underneath. There are these knots now, that almost have spread all over where the trunk begins to branch (it's been pruned into a tree with one single trunk). I also noticed a couple of these little bugs (not aphids) that were under the bark that was loose but had not fallen off yet. I posted photos on my Flickr page: http://www.flickr.com/photos/3pbees/ you can see about 5 or 6 photos, including one of the trunk and how beautiful that bark is. I am just wondering if this is normal. It just doesn't *look* normal. Thanks for any help or advice. :-)