1884.J 203 



melidce, minute Suprestidee {Brachys), some very bright metallic 

 OntTiophagi, and various Lampyridee and Lycidce will be found, by 

 searching in this way very often far more will be found than by 

 beating ; great, black, greasy-looking Galandrce, and sometimes Ceto- 

 niidce, will be found flying with a loud humming noise in the hot sun, 

 about the sap of fallen chonta and other palms. As soon as it begins 

 to get dark in the dry season the "cocujas," or PyropJiori, are to be 

 seen flying rapidly in a straight line through the undergrowth ; lots 

 of Lampyridce will be met with in the rainy season ; these latter have 

 an unsteady, undulating sort of flight, very different to Pyrophorus, 

 the smaller species generally keeping low down about small bushes, 

 some quite close to the ground. They do not retain their light nearly 

 so long at a time as Pyropliorus, some flashing very frequently ; though 

 often found in large numbers, each one appears to take his own course. 

 I never saw anything I could call a flight, nor any flashing in unison 

 amongst the very large number of species collected by myself ; many 

 species appear to be very local, especially when one ascends the 

 mountain slopes, where, with every 1000 feet ascended, different 

 species are to be met with ; nearly all the Central American species 

 appear to be winged in both sexes. 



A good many Semiptera, especially Reduviidce, occur in the forest, 

 some species are common on fallen timber, one in particular (a 

 Beduvid), with curious scarlet leaf -like appendages to the apex of the 

 abdomen, and the abdomen itself covered with a sticky sort of sub- 

 stance, preys upon freshly-emerged Longicorns, &c., and I have often 

 seen it with its rostrum buried in the bodies of other insects, anointing 

 them well with the sticky substance before sucking them dry. This 

 species, like most Beduviidcd, is very evil-smelling ; they require to be 

 handled as carefully as wasps, their bite is like the prick of a hot 

 needle ; some fine Aradidcd occur under bark, and a good many 

 Coreidce and Pentatomidae on leaves or on the wing. Some fine dragon- 

 flies — species with exceedingly long bodies and long wings, and the 

 apices of the latter tipped with yellow, white, or blue, occur in the 

 damp forest ; they are seldom, if ever, seen near water. 



Some large Hymenoptera (^Pompilidoe) are common in the fresh 

 clearings, where they hunt for spiders and insects amongst the fallen 

 timber. 



On the margins of the forest, and in the second growth, a good 

 many different species will be found, as the Acrcece, many Pieridce, 

 Papilionidcd, ThecJce, Hesperidcd, Erycinidce, &c. ; the fresh growth 

 springing up about new clearings (the natives are frequently clearing 



