OF WASHINGTON. 287 



acquainted with the exact location of Cayamas I had of course 

 some trouble in getting there. However, after spending an entire 

 day on the railroad and changing cars twice, I finally reached 

 Campinas, from which place a two hours' ride in a Cuban volanta 

 brought me and my baggage safely to Cayamas, where I was most 

 hospitably received by Mr. Eduardo Ferrer. 



Cayamas is in the southwestern part of the province of Santa 

 Clara, about 5 miles northwest of Yaguaramas, and only about 8 

 miles distant from the south coast. The country hereabout is 

 almost flat, or rather very gently rolling, the more elevated parts 

 being dry and rather sandy, the soil of the lower portions con 

 sisting of a red loam. 



This being the dry season here, which corresponds with our 

 northern winter, flora and insect fauna are more or less dormant 

 in spite of the warm weather, and vegetables can only be raised 

 by means of constant irrigation. Hardly any flowers are to be 

 seen anywhere ; a few common looking butterflies are flying 

 about ; also three or four species of dragon flies ; a large Anthrax 

 and a large syrphid fly are common enough on the paths; mos 

 quitoes and Hippelates flies are locally quite abundant, but other 

 Diptera are not obvious at this season. Hymenoptera are still 

 scarcer ; a gigantic Scoliid and a jet black carpenter bee are fly 

 ing about, and the few flowers are visited by a multitude of wild 

 honey bees. 



There are only two small fields of cultivated cotton here be 

 sides a number of scattered wild cotton plants, all of which have 

 been examined by me with great care. About the original food 

 plant of Anthonomus grandis I have reported my observations 

 to Dr. Howard. The few other species of insects that can be 

 found feeding on cotton have but little economic importance ex 

 cept the cotton stainer, Dysdercus suturellus, and the "bibija- 

 gua " (Atta cephalotes}. 



In my search for any other possible food plant of Anthonomus 

 grandis I have of course examined every malvaceous plant I 

 could discover, and I am also vigorously using my beating net 

 and umbrella in the hope of finding this weevil upon some other 

 plant. In doing so I am gradually accumulating quite a collec 

 tion of the insects that can be found here at this early season, 

 mostly Coleoptera. The dry sandy ridges are partly covered 

 with dense tall grass, which is now dead, and which furnishes but 

 a few species of insects, and partly with a sort of dry hammock 

 resembling in general appearance the dry palmetto hammocks of 

 central Florida, and having also a very scant insect fauna at this 

 season. 



The loamy lowlands of this region were originally covered 

 with one mighty forest, but this has long since disappeared and 

 is now replaced by monotonous sugar-cane fields. The insect 

 fauna within these fields and along their edges is also monoto- 



