Ok, please do not try this without checking it out first. Here is my story. I had this problem more then once. The first time I got these crawly threadlike things in my soil (ie. Last summer), I ended up throwing out my Thanksgiving Cactus. So last November, I purchased a few more Thanksgiving Cactus from the supermarket. I noticed those pesky tiny fruit flies/knats flying around my plants. ( they usually lay their eggs in the soil ) Well that was it! I mixed a combo of rubbing alcohol and water and sprayed the surface of the dirt on my newly purchased plants really well. I have knat/fruit fly traps all over...ie.. Near each plant. For the first time since the Fall, I recently saw the first little bugger and put out my traps. I may do my alcohol/ water spray again. But this is risky. It did not kill my plants, but it can kill them if you overdo this. Proceed at your own risk. Best to try to control this problem. I do not think you can completely avoid it if you have live plants in the home. They LOVE organic soil and there may be unhatched eggs in the organic soil you buy at the garden center to transplant your thanksgiving cactus into a new pot in the Spring. So far I have NOT transplanted anything. Nor have I fertilized anything. These tiny fruit flies/knats come in through screens or with your groceries/fruit that you buy at your local supermarket. They can even come up out of the drain in your sink! I have added photos of these traps. They work well so far for me. You can purchase them at Home Depot or True Value Hardware.

Young stinkbugs, most likely the brown marmorated stinkbug, Halyomorpha halys. I suggest you react NOW! Squish or drown in soapy water all you can find. Last year, those guys did serious damage to numerous agricultural crops and home gardens. They feed on just about everything, including tree bark. And will damage corn kernels by piercing the husks!

What you are calling the "younger version" looks like a green lacewing (a good predator insect). I think the first picture is some type of wasp, I've seen them around my flowers. It almost looks like a papaya fruit fly ( also called papaya wasp, tho not a wasp) but don't think it is. DM

Hi rhizo, thanks. I have not seen any spittle on any plants, but I've looked up froghoppers after reading your message and it indeed appears you are right. I thought the were related to the cicada family and learned froghoppers are related to aphids and cicadas. It seems some people think they don't do damage, but my poor morning glory can hardly keep its flowers open anymore. It's also starting to get covered in whitish residue that does not seem like powdery mildew at this time. I am either about to wage war on these with neem oil or imaproclorid (sp??), or to pull out the morning glories and sweet potato vines, since pyrethrin only seems to deter them temporarily. Even if they are not incredibly harmful, their constant peeing which gets carried in the wind and occasional hopping on one's face makes me HATE them as it is impossible to want to spend time in my very small balcony that I worked so hard to turn into a little haven. It turns out the other one is indeed an assassin bug nymph. Found a huge one today starting to grow wings. Thanks for the lead on it. Any tips on how to destroy the froghoppers without harming the assassins? It turns out the hoppers are too quick for me to catch by hand...