One of the two good sized ficus benjamina trees in my family room has been
infested with some kind of bugs. I'm *fairly* sure it started with spider
mites, assuming these are the ones that leave the fine little webs all over
the place. There is also a sticky residue (honeydew?) on many of the leaves
now, but I don't know if spider mites did that or not. However, today I
found a number of small flat black bugs on the smaller twigs, lined up in
rows along some of the twigs. They are about the size and shape of sesame
seeds, and definitely very black, not white. I've had those white ones
(mealy bugs, maybe?) in years past on other plants, but never black things.
They may be feeding on the sticky stuff, not sure, but it looks like it.

Needless to say, I want to get my poor ficus healthy again, if that is even
possible. Luckily the two trees are in opposite sides of the room, so the
infestation has not spread. My problem is that my husband is very sensitive
to any kind of insecticides including the good kinds, so I'm wondering if
anyone has any kind of "home grown" remedy that might help. I cut off the
twigs with the black bugs, but I know I didn't get all of them.

TIA

elaine