Shelley, you do have some interesting critters on your purple coneflowers.  I cannot identify them, but you can send these pictures to Bugguide.net where a community of experts will ID the bug, although it often takes a long time for them to do so. If you have an account with Reddit, you might find an answer through r/whatsthisbug.  
Images from the Xerces Society took me to How to Identify and Respond to Pests at Home by Emily May on July 29, 2020, which may be helpful to you.  
In any case, you should knock the insects into soapy water so they do not continue to damage your plants.  It is not a good idea to spray the plants because pollinators might also be affected.
In any case, I'm glad you're looking at your plants so carefully in order to forestall further infestations.
Lori