ISO THE NATURALIST IN NICARAGUA. [Ck X. 



of the road are dangerously steep and rocky ; but as fully 

 a league in distance is saved by taking this by-path, 

 instead of the main road by way of La Puerta, I gene- 

 rally preferred travelling by it, especially as I often took 

 rare and new beetles on the bushes. I usually, when 

 travelling, carried a net fixed to a short stick, and caught 

 the insects as I passed along, off the leaves, without 

 stopping ; so abundant were they, that it was very 

 rare for me to take the shortest journey without finding 

 gome new species to add to my collection. On this 

 journey I did not, however, take many insects, as the 

 latter half of the year 1872, for some reason or other, 

 was a very unfavourable season for them. The scarcity 

 of beetles was very remarkable. The wet season set in 

 a little earlier than usual, but I do not think that this 

 caused the dearth of insects, as at Juigalpa, where there 

 had been scarcely any rain, there were very few com- 

 pared with the two former years. The year before, 

 when the season was nearly as wet, beetles, especially 

 longicorns, had been very abundant ; and the first half 

 of 1872 had not been characterised by any scarcity of 

 them. Some of the fine longicorns that appear in April 

 were numerous. No less than five specimens of a large 

 and beautiful one (Deliathis nivea, Bates), white, with 

 black spots, that we considered one of our greatest 

 rarities, were taken in that month. It was not until the 

 end of May that the great scarcity of beetles, compared 

 with their abundance in former years, became apparent. 

 I think all classes of beetles had suffered. Many fine 

 lamellicorns, that were generally numerous, were not seen 

 at all ; neither were many species of longicorns, usually 

 common. A fig-tree that I had growing in my garden 



