JUAN VI N AS— THE REVENTAZON VALLEY 227 



A very large and handsome ichneumon fly {Thyreodon 

 laticinctus) was captured in October, flying in the forest at 

 the bottom of the valley. Its body was more than an inch 

 long, shining black with a bright yellow band across the ab- 

 domen, while the wings were brilliant metallic blue. 



A curious katydid {Ischnomela impennis) quite fooled us 

 when we found it in the woods within a long, partly folded 

 leaf on our June visit. Its jumping legs, 66 mm. (2.6 inches) 

 long, were stretched straight behind, its first pair, 28 mm. 

 (i.i inches), straight in front, giving A. as a first impression 

 that the creature was a gigantic member of that spider 

 group which possesses a long narrow abdomen and legs held 

 in similar positions {Tetragnatha) . 



A month later, while striking at a dragonfly in these 

 woods, P. accidentally caught a large green wingless walk- 

 ing stick, a species of Bacteria allied to bicornis. It had a 

 pair of curved yellowish horns on its head, one just behind 

 each antenna, which increased its grotesque appearance. 

 Its body and legs were so soft and flabby that it was almost 

 impossible to handle it without feeling it "give" between 

 the fingers. We thought it full grown, but it moulted in 

 the night, increasing in length to 5V3 inches, but was still 

 wingless. A week later we photographed the creature, 

 which hung like an insect sloth from a twig. The walking 

 stick with beautiful rose pink wings {Pseudophasma menius), 

 which we occasionally took at the waterfalls, was more com- 

 mon in this valley. Its body was dull brown, two inches 

 (50 mm.) long in the male, two and two-thirds inches 

 (67 mm.) in the female, and lacked the cephalic horns. 



Many times, when we reached the ford of the Naranjo 

 in the valley bottom, instead of crossing it and continuing 

 toward the Reventazon bridge, we would turn oflF to the 

 right into the forest until we reached a little brook which 

 glided with a hardly perceptible current through very deep 



