pests thrips -- pest ID (small bugs, black spots on leaves)

edit: changed topic title to help people searching in the future
 
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hi friends. i'm wondering if i can get your opinions on a pest i'm battling.
 
yellowing leaves with small black spots.
there are at least two patterns with the black spots: they go along the veins and also appear in patches.
they are seemingly caused by small bugs (0.5-1mm long) that look like little worms but up close actually have legs.
i was wondering if it's scale because of the patches, but these bugs don't look like the pictures of scale insects i've seen online (which have a flatter shape than mine).
could they be aphids or something?
 
along veins:
 

 
in patches:
 

 
probable culprit:
 

 

 
i sprayed with neem. i hope that does it.
also, i did an experiment where i took a test leaf with a few bugs on it and sprayed that as well. after the leaf dried, i put it in a ziplock bag. unfortunately, the bugs seem just fine many hours later. maybe neem just takes a long time to work? fingers crossed

Looks like thrips to me. I did not have much success using neem against thrips. Pyrethrin worked better for me. 

thanks for that! you are correct.
these are clearly thrips. more specifically, looks like i mostly have a mix of first and second instar larvae.
i think i'll try to find a spinosad spray somewhere. hopefully mine aren't resistant to it. if it doesn't work, pyrethrin's up next.