Lantana Bugs And Wet Looking Leaves

Question

Recently we have started getting bug (picture enclosed) on the Lantana plants. This started a few weeks ago. We sprayed the plants with a standard bug spray, and it seemed to take care of the bugs until the last few days. The original indication of an issue was a white mist growth and the bugs, now we have the bugs no white mist, but wet looking (not wet but wet looking not sticky). I don’t want to continue using a standard bug spray since it is most likely dangerous to Bees and Humming Birds. We live in Arizona (Phoenix area), the plants (3) are in direct sunlight (temperatures daily over 105) from approximately 10am until sun down. The plants are approximately 2 years old, we haven’t had any issues until this year. They are watered daily, and this year we have fertilized more than in the past.

Answer 1

The picture was too dark and too far away for me but it is either aphids, scale or mealybugs (a cousin of scale). I suggest taking a sample to your local garden center in a sealed, transparent, plastic bag for identification.