Ah, I think I've identified my mystery insects. From all accounts of various insects that love compost, they appear to be springtails, though I haven't challenged any to spring. There are some that don't. Apparently in large numbers, they can harm the roots of plants, but I don't think I have that many. They seem to be only at one end of the bed in an area about 1' x 4'. I didn't see any at all in other parts of the bed. ===== [They] Occur in soil in house plants and around the home and can be a nuisance when numerous. Occasionally large numbers of springtails occur in greenhouse crops where they can injure young plants. Some species injure sprouting seeds, roots and tender shoots, occasionally causing concern in greenhouses, seedbeds and mushroom beds. They are harmless to man and animals. ===== So now my only worry is if I've put a great enough soil barrier around my strawberry plant roots to protect them from the compost, which is obviously still being worked on by critters. Here is a link that might be useful: A Springtail nymph

Not sure I can help but can possibly give you some insight. Raccoons are determined creatures and chicken wire isn't going to do it. The problem is that now they've discovered where they can eat good stuff and they are going to keep coming back since as the season moves on, so do the grubs to the surface. In essence, whatever they eat in one night is replaced the next day as more grubs move up and so they return. Maybe someone can respond to the issue of killing the grubs or break their life cycle. Used coffee grounds seem to have worked for my parents in a similar case. They have a huge lawn and I've been telling my father to 'feed' the lawn and not to cut it so short. He had an army of grubs and during the night the raccoons would make a mine field out of his lawn. We started applying used coffee grounds to the lawn by just flinging it in the air and spreading it lightly just before rainy days. This was in 2006. Immediately we noticed the raccoons would not come as often, and in 4 weeks they were not coming at all. We applied every two weeks at first and then every month. In 2007 the raccoons did not come at all and his lawn was restored. A lawn service company had offered to treat his lawn with pesticides for a sum of approximately $1,000.00 to deal with the issue, but in the end we dealt with the problem for very little $$ and fed the soil at the same time. Just a suggestion - you might try UCGs. Don't apply too thick, just sprinkle.

Roselee, The grub found last spring may very well have been the straggler of several. Finding only one at each affected plant this fall is probably just luck, though might explain why the recent decline/damage seems to have been slower. The narrow bed is actually just a 1 ft gap between the house slab and aggregate pool deck, so no (few?) roots from neighboring shrubs, trees, and other near by plants; not much else to eat but the ruellia. Can imagine one clearing the roots off a young plant even with an appetite that is a fraction of those caterpillars'. Bossyvossy, We do have lots of opossums, but no sighs of digging around the plants. Can you usually see where they disturbed the plant? Also, the noticeable period of decline makes me think it is more likely something in the ground. Thought it might be root rot, but roots appear healthy all the way to the point they've been chewed off. If grubs, agree there will be more. It's a new bed that's seen very little plant material since its decades ago construction, so probably not able to support much of a population yet.

Isaac, the main ingredient in Aza-direct is Azadirachtin which comes from Neem seeds. I searched for it on amazon and came up with General Hydroponics GH2045 AzaMax. That is what I purchased and used as a soil drench yesterday. I don't expect miracles and don't have a scientific way to see if it works. I found the symphylans because I had planted 4 types of green beans and one of the groups did not germinate. I dug up 3 of the seeds and they were covered with symphylans. I had to use a small 16x microsope to see them and make a sketch and then identify. The seeds that did not germinate were old and yesterday I planted the rest of them to use them up and do a test. I did the soil drench after I planted them. I will dig up some of the seeds next week and see if they are covered in symphylans or not. I am finding it is hard to be organic but I still think it is worth the effort. I do continually have pests or disease but still get some crops that work and keep on trying new things.