THE BANANA RIVER COUNTRY 30 1 



a pasture, and then the forest, barely a quarter-mile from 

 the house. There was a trail Into It whose beginning was 

 marked by a cluster of fine trees called, I believe, "pavon." 

 At some distance east along this trail was a clearing with a 

 few scattered bananas and pineapple plants. Among the 

 dry withered banana leaves lying on the ground I had a 

 glimpse of a great brown cockroach, seemingly more than 

 three Inches long, but although I searched for him, turning 

 over the leaves, he managed to escape. I did secure, how- 

 ever, a magnificent metallic green wasp, Ampulex neotropica, 

 an inch long. Its wings clouded with brown. Under a lens 

 the surface of the entire body Is finely pitted, while on head 

 and thorax are larger pits among the small ones and many 

 short whitish or grayish hairs. The head Is prolonged for- 

 wards Into a triangle and the antennae situated on the pro- 

 longation in front of the level of the large eyes. The large 

 black mandibles are attached to the head, one below each 

 eye, and curved outward and forward In such a way as to 

 leave an open space between each mandible and the re- 

 mainder of the head, Instead of the jaw when closed lying In 

 contact with the head, as Is the usual condition in Insects. 

 This arrangement of the mandibles suggests the zygomatic 

 arch of the skull of higher mammals, while it must give 

 Ampulex a very wide gape. The maxillae and labium are 

 attached to the head at a level in front of the attachment 

 of the mandibles. As the AmpuHcIdae are said to feed on 

 cockroaches the finding of this Individual Immediately after 

 seeing the large roach may not have been a mere coinci- 

 dence. 



Then I passed through more forest and finally Into a 

 creek, walking down whose stony bed brought me Into the 

 bananas of the farm again. Just before reaching the ba- 

 nanas the creek ran through many Heliconlas, some of which 

 were the largest I saw, each leaf and leafstalk being about 



