Plants under attack!

Found this big (little) guy attached to the stem of a watermelon seedling a few days ago.

Maybe a fruit fly?  But then a few hours later I spotted some more.  Big ones, little ones, brown ones, green ones.  I found them on my seedlings.  I found them on my herbs.  Especially on the red sage that I bought to plant in the front yard.  And I should have known better.  One of the things I love about the garden blogging community is that so many people are writing about what they are up to that I get a really good sense of what I should be thinking about as a beginner.  And just a couple weeks ago Thomas at A Growing Tradition posted on his run-in with aphids and shared that it makes sense to quarantine new plants before bringing them inside so pests are not spread.  Well, if I had only listened....

I still don't know what the creatures were but I could only assume they were up to no good. The only thing I could think to do after noticing these winged things all over the place was to spray them with soapy water (it was dinner time and I had no time to run out to the store.) 

Can you see their tiny carcasses? 

In other bad news, I found my first slug in the raised bed veggie garden.  One of my choy sum leaves was riddled with holes -- and sure enough there was a teeny, tiny slug roaming around underneath.  I smooshed it and hope that it was a lonely traveler but know that is not likely.  I am going have to accelerate my hunt for copper tape or foil to use as a deterrent.  I heard that you should use copper that is at least 4 inches wide -- but all that I have found so far is 1 inch wide (and expensvie at that!)