Found this...trying to figure out if it's beneficial, harmful, or neither. Resembles a minute pirate bug, but believe it's too large. Also resembles box elder bug, but coloring is off, as is pattern. Southern US (sorry for the blur, thought I'd had a better photo)
I found a green lacewing larvae yesterday. It's been one of my favorite bugs for about 16 years. I did a little dance as I watched him/her crawl all over my plant with his/her dead bug armor. I'm hoping I get some more to help with my thrip issue, too.
Yes! Thank you, @Pistils ! I found this guy, but seems to be native to Europe, so thinking it's quite possible it's on the verge of being an invasive species or someone nearby visited and brought a stowaway home.
Kept hunting, and found its true identification. It's apparently bad for plants, so I'm glad I shook him off...and glad I had help narrowing the family down. Thanks again, Pistils tarnished plant bug - Lygus lineolaris