All I can see is what looks like a gray moth silhouette, but no detail. I’m staying with my original ‘guess’ that it’s an opportunistic honeydew feeder, and not a pest infestation.
Have you ever seen a Peony plant with growing buds on it, covered with ants feeding on the honeydew from the flowers? The ants protect the Peony from aphids, scale etc in return for the sugary secretions, and do no harm to the plant: a symbiosis.
Is the Jap Maple covered with them, too? Can you get a pic of that?
Probably not a moth, since it doesn’t have the distinct antennae, unless they’re folded back, like the wings, but I can’t see any detail. Can you get any closer?
