I stand corrected. It doesn't appear to be one of the aphid species. Although, one of the tell all's is in how the ants are protecting the insects. They herd them like cows and milk them for their honey dew. A source of carbohydrate necessary for existence. Consider spraying the plants off with water being careful to not apply too much direct pressure while blasting the aphid [and, ants] off. If your problem persists, consider your fertilizer [I recommend using a 1:1 ratio fertilizer and love the Jobe's Organic Granular All-purpose 4-4-4.] Proper maintenance of the site will contribute to the disruption of the pests simply because they will find both your presence and cleanliness irritating.

I does not look like an aphid, I know there are a lot of aphids but they all look alike just differ in color. I am not very concerned about the damage I was just curious what the insect was. I picked infected leaves and smushed the colony to the ground

Aphids are white, not black.

Upon further inspection I misspoke for sure. It's no aphid.

more pictures of the adult placed on cactus leaf

here on the piece of mulch, facing the camera :)

This garden oddity is puzzling. Time to don my entomology cap and get to cracking a book or two! Thanks too for the continued posting.

yes! Go Gary! I wanna know what this creature is

Gary Figueroa, i found out what the insect is!

Its Entylia carinata, treehopper. They r in the same family(not sure if thats how u call that) as aphids so they make honeydew as well thats why ants are tending to them.

Here is a short video http://naturedocumentaries.org/3469/ant-formica-palidefulva-tending-treehopper/

According to the UCDavis website Treehoppers are as easy to control with sharp sprays of water as are Aphids. Insecticidal Soaps can also be used.

kimmq is kimmsr

Awesome. I woke this morning thinking that it might belong to that group and there it was...my answer! This is what makes for interesting exchanges in web forums. Thanks again for sharing.