..despite living here 40+ years. We have a south facing oleander. I posted here last summer asking for advice after it got cooked by the heat. Thanks for the replies.
Well, it's doing a lot better and starting to sprout after pruning the dead branches a while back. On a side note, it's never really bloomed well, just a few flowers. I looked at it a few days ago, and there were orange dots near all the new growth and flower buds.
Researched it and found out they're oleander aphids (
Aphis nerii). They also attack plants of the milkweed family. Folks grow those to attract monarch butterflies and are hesitant to use pesticides because they don't want to harm the caterpillars. I went nuclear on them, though. Plain old Raid does the job. I hope this can help someone.
Pic (not mine) below. Slightly smaller than a pinhead, and appears more sphere-like. I live in a suburb of PHX.