CLOSED: Unknown Swarm on My Pine Tree

The pictures show a swarm of small bugs that I at first thought was some sort of mold or soil around the base of my pine tree. My eyeglasses are in the pictures for scale - or at least the end of the glasses' temple in the closeup. The bugs are climbing the tree and appear to be pretty much all over it from what I can tell.

I live in Albuquerque, NM (USA) and it has been windy and chilly lately (10 degrees below normal), but yesterday was back to average at around 70°F and today it got up close to 80°. We're in the midst of a big drought and the tree is well watered, but not excessively (last time was 2-3 weeks ago).

Any ideas what they are? What, if anything, should I do?

The insect in the first image appears to be an aphid, and there are some aphids that can be pests on pines - see http://aces.nmsu.edu/ces/yard/1998/031698.html
However, the insect in the last picture does not appear to be an aphid, but I cannot see enough detail to offer a definitive i.d. Also, massing at the base of trees as shown in the other images is not typical aphid behavior. You might try contacting your nearest office of New Mexico's Cooperative Extension Service for advice - http://aces.nmsu.edu/county/

These aren't aphids (they are the same bugs in all the photos). They're larger and they're swarming like crazy. I have e-mailed our county extension office, but I don't expect to hear back from them for days. Hoping someone here may know though. My rudimentary interweb research indicates they may be pine bug nymphs, but I don't see any information about them swarming either.

All I can say is that the creature in your first image (admittedly not that clear) appears to have cornicles, which are diagnostic for aphids. Also, some conifer aphids can be up to 8 mm in body length. Can you please clarify what you mean by "pine bugs"? I am not familiar with any insect by that common name.

Sorry. I meant "pine seed bugs". I'm pretty convinced that is what they are at this point (after getting some advice from a local professional). Today the swarm was mostly dead at the base of the tree - with plenty of life still going strong though. Most likely most of the rest will die off long before reaching adulthood as well since it is so dry around here now-a-days. The birds sure like them. I sat watching some feed their fledglings for a while. Easy pickings right now.

Thanks for your advice Flapdoodle. I did a bit of research based on your posts. Boy are there a lot more types of aphids than I ever knew. And I had no idea that aphids could get so big! I see what you mean about the cornicle-looking thingamajigs in the first photo.

From what I understand, there are bugs in two families (Coreidae and Scutelleridae) that have species known as pine seed bugs, but neither appear to resemble your critters - see http://forestpests.org/vd/475.html and http://forestpests.org/vd/458.html for images.