GUANACASTE—PUNTARENAS TO LIBERIA 423 



west. In the midst of the mostly open potrero was a grove 

 of oaks with ovate, entire-margined leaves about two inches 

 long, belonging to a species very abundant throughout this 

 part of the country. From one of the trees of this grove 

 was hanging a wasps' nest with a long tubular opening on 

 the lower side. The insects were small and said to sting se- 

 verely. 



Along the banks of the river, in the grass and low herbs 

 which fringed them, were webs of spiders {Tinus nigrinus) 

 containing numerous wings and other dry parts of the bodies 

 of dragonflies. As many of the fragments were of mature 

 individuals they showed that numbers of the Hetserinas 

 and Argias occurring here come to their ends as spiders' prey. 

 These spiders had bodies up to half an inch in length; the 

 pale abdomen bore a broad dark band on the middle of the 

 upper surface for its entire length, the band markedly 

 narrowed behind the middle, then widened again and ta- 

 pering to a point at the hind end. 



As we went farther westward, we left the actual river 

 bank for the shrubbery and low woods bordering it. Some 

 of the trees and bushes here were the "pica-pica" (Mucujia 

 sp.), leguminous shrubs whose pods, at this time two to three 

 inches long, were covered with a brown velvety pile irritat- 

 ing to the human skin, hence "pica-pica" — "sting-sting"; 

 a melastomaceous tree closely resembling that called maria 

 near Alajuela and here known as "sotacaballo"; the gua- 

 cimo; guayabo; guachipelin and palo canela with small 

 greenish flowers clustered along the woody twigs, green 

 fruits of the size and shape of acorns without the cups and 

 clusters of rather soft thin leaves. Bull's horn thorns were 

 abundant, some with red, others with black, ants. There 

 were many dry composites and other weeds, while lantana 

 and escobilla were in bloom. 



Turning northward into the charral we discovered a large 



