Is this it?

Here is a link that might be useful: Cucumber beetles

You could try garlic pepper tea spray, insecticidal soap (I use Murphy's Oil and water), or neem oil.

mcphreak is correct. It definitely sounds like cucumber beetles. One organic solution is to use a dish washing liquid solution on the plants. I know it sounds nuts, but the insects do not like the dish washing liquid. Just mix one tablespoon of dish washing liquid per one gallon of water in a sprayer and spray the plants. Don't use too much dish washing liquid though. Repeat the process once every other week up until 2 weeks before harvesting. Also make sure to wash off the herbs well before using.

You can also use a garlic & pepper spray that works well. Visit the link for more homemade gardening remedies.

Here is a link that might be useful: Haomemade organic gardening pesticides and fungicides

Thanks for all this advice!
I couldn't see some of the photos, but I do know (or think)it's not a cucumber beetle, I know that guy. This one moves really fast, so it's very hard to see. I associate it with spit bugs, because spit bugs like these plants, but when I look up the bug that actually emerges from the spittle, it's nothing like this thing.
I've thought of cayenne and Ivory, but these are herbs, afterall, and the point is their taste! I CAN stand the idea of cayenne.....

I think probably I need to be very careful about fall cleanup. Especially with the perennial herbs.

Thanks, all. And any more suggestions are more than welcome!

weld

Could it be the insect linked below? It apparently feeds on herbaceous perennials including chrysanthemum, mint, Chinese lantern, liatris, basil, and shasta daisy as well as fruits, especially currant and gooseberry. They may also feed on woody ornamentals such as azalea, dogwood, forsythia, viburnum, amur maple and sumac, and they feed occasionally on flowering annuals, including marigolds.

Adult fourlined plant bugs overwinter as eggs laid in clusters into a slit near the top of canes of currants, brambles and other woody plants. The eggs hatch in late May or early June in central Minnesota (including the Twin Cities.) When nymphs first hatch, they are bright red with black wing pads then change to yellow with black blotches on their abdomens and black wingpads with a yellow stripe on each. Adults are greenish yellow with four black stripes down the wings. When disturbed they rapidly run or fly away. Fourlined plant bugs are active for about a month; there is one generation each year.

Fourlined plant bugs feed by inserting their needle-like mouthparts into leaves and removing chlorophyll. Their damage appears as small round, depressed spots which may be brown or black. The spots may become clear and after several weeks the affected tissue drops out leaving small holes. Nymphs as well as adults can injure plants.

Here is a link that might be useful: Four-Lined Plant Bug

These guys have been demolishing my lettuces, herbs and a few others for weeks now. This is the first year I have noticed them. Nasty buggers.

anney, yes! That sounds exactly like this bug. Thank you so much. I've had to cut back to the ground all mint, oregano, marjoram, and sage. Once they had demolished those, however, they moved on to the basil. They seem to be active here much longer than a month.