Mealybugs don't jump.

And hopefully you didn't kill these critters' predators when you sprayed willy-nilly ("a bunch of things"). Certainly this practice is exactly 180º opposite of the tenets of IPM.

That said, pix would help as the text combined with lack of info is too confusing for me...

Dan

It's dark outside now but I will try tomorrow to get a picture. They look identical to the pictures I've seen of mealybugs. They're also not picky about the plants. They are on my tomatoes, peppers, roses, bee balm, nandinas, and a few other plants.

Explain 'white, sooty'.

I, like Dan, look forward to seeing some pictures.

What you see that looks like a Mealybug but jumps might be a Mealybug Destroyer. Spraying poisons to control "something" especially those poisons that do not list the particular pest as one of the targets, can also kill off those beneficial insects that are helping control the pests you might have.

Here is a link that might be useful: Mealybug Destroyer

Kimm - I considered the destroyer bugs but I still wasn't sure. Do they jump?

I sprayed last week when I thought they were mealybugs. I was told to spray with the organic spray after trying the Neem Oil with no luck. I was directed this was from my local Extension Office.

I will still try to get a picture today but I found this post from this site back in 2005 that describes the problem EXACTLY. I have checked all of the bugs listed and none of them match, except the Mealybug Destroyer. They look like it.

I sent some pictures to the local Extension Office earlier and just received a response. They are planthoppers and planthopper nymphs. Perfectly harmless, so I won't be doing anything else to them.

I'm glad I asked.

Hmmm, I wouldn't call planthoppers 'perfectly harmless'.

I was thinking the same thing.

I think what she meant was that they weren't a big concern and I didn't need to take any action at this point.