These look to me more like aphids - I hope somebody else can confirm. They are too big to be spider mites. The fact that you saw dead ones near the plant is also a give-away - spider mites generally are not found like that. Do you see tiny webbing near the youngest growth on the plant? If you do not, they are likely NOT spider mites (if you do, then it's almost certainly them though).

The infestation seems to be pretty severe (is that stem completely covered with them?) - BUT if they are aphids, the good news is that they are pretty easy to control. As you already found out, they get dislodged by a simple spray of water. Once they are off the plant, most aphid species can't get back onto it.

Because of those highly crinkled leaves, it's very difficult to hit all the nooks and crannies with a water hose though. Best to take it outside and hit it with a spray from all sorts of directions very thoroughly. Some soil may be washed out, but it's way better than leaving any suckers behind. You can easily top up the soil.

People have also successfully controlled bugs on H. compacta by completely submerging the whole plant, pot and all vines, into a bath or other container of soapy water (a couple teaspoons of gentle soap, not detergent, per gallon of water) for a few minutes to an hour or so. Your plant is large, so I am not sure if this is realistic. You need to swish the plant under that water so that it gets to all the hiding places, just like a spray should. The soap removes the protective coating on the aphids and causes them to die of dehydration. Soap solution can also be sprayed on the plant, but I think it'll be ineffective here because a spray bottle just does not create a stream forceful enough to reach behind all those leaf angles.

No matter what treatment you choose, it's a good idea to repeat it, even after they all seem completely gone, weekly or so, a couple times, just to hit the ones that may have survived, before they breed.

Good luck! (You don't need much here, but still...) A 40-year old wedding gift hoya is something VERY special, and I hope very much you can control these buggers.

They don't look like the aphids we have here - ours are bright yellow and they usually attack the fresh vines and not so much leaves, unless they, too, are young and just developing. To me, they look more like mealybugs, but not quite right. Possibly whiteflies? I've never had them myself, but it reminds me of photos I've seen of whitefly...

But when it comes to sucking bugs and more specifically, compacta, I think you have to take a very aggressive stance to save it. This is a case where I would use the Bayer Tree and Shrub, 2 tablespoons in a gallon of water, and water it into the soil. Do it outside, away from where any pets might get into the overflow. This literally makes the plant poisonous to pests and what you can't reach in the nooks and crannies will die, and it remains poisonous to anything for about 6 months. Compacta is one I will use BATS on twice a year just to be safe because it is impossible to treat any other way...

Denise in Omaha

I forgot to mention chemicals - also a solution.

I am not sure it's aphids either (never seen them live), but some pictures online do look close to me. (Google the images, ladyhawk). Aphids can be brown, green, yellow, off-white, red, black or brown - many different species, I suppose.

Try to take a more blown-up photo, so that individual features of the bugs can be seen, if possible.

If people here have a trouble ID'ing reliably, or if you do not want to wait, you might want to post here: http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/pests/.