[dpurdy]

Naysen,
I can feel your pain. Sorry to hear about your problems. Yes, thrips can cause blossom drop. http://www.aces.edu/pubs/docs/A/ANR-1191/ Here's a web address that will clarify some of the questions that you have. About 3/4 of the way down the page you can read about thrips. I also noticed that your were concerned about what you might spay on your plants. There's a product called EcoSMART that is all organic, that will supposedly kill thrips. I have not used it, but I know others who have. I couldn't really tell from your pics if they were thrips or not. I know their very small. If you can look at them under some kind of magnifier, you should be able to identify them from pics online. Nasty little buggers. Some thrips are carriers of TSWV which is usually devastating. If you find that you have thrips, there are some specific steps that you will need to do so that you can eliminate the recurrence of them next year. I'm sure that those procedures are discussed in most articles about thrips. I almost forgot, some that I know use sticky pads in their greenhouses or field to catch them. I hope some of this helps. It's a tough problem to deal with. Got my fingers crossed; hope your successful dealing with those nasty little buggers.
Dale