404 ENTOMOLOGICAL XEWS. [Nov., 191 1 



ness and their serrated spiny edges, they must be handled care- 

 fully to avoid scratched and bleeding hands. The stocks are at- 

 tached to the host trees at very varying distances from the 

 ground — from less than a foot to more than fifty feet (15 me- 

 tres). 



On account of the size and formidable defenses of these 

 plants, it was our usual practice to select those whose attach- 

 ment was not more than fifteen feet above the ground, throw a 

 long rope over one or more stocks, pull on both ends of the 

 rope so that it would slide between the tree trunk and the 

 bromeliad and break the roots which fastened the latter to its 

 host. Some water and some of the most active insect inhabitants 

 of the epiphyte would be lost in this operation. As soon as the 

 bromeliad reached the ground, it was placed with its crown of 

 leaves directed upward and the upper parts of the leaves cut 

 off with a knife to get rid of the inconvenience of the spines. 

 Beginning with the outermost leaf of the whorl, the leaves 

 were removed one by one, carefully stripping each to its at- 

 tachment to the stock and taking out the animals lying between 

 the leaf bases with a forceps and placing them in bottles. 



The first time that T found bromeliadicolous Odonate larv:e 

 was October 3. 1900. at Juan \'ifias, Costa Rica. Three dis- 

 tinct clumps of epiphytic bromeliads had been examined with- 

 out success that day, at different points along the road and trail 

 which leads from the railroad station down to the iron bridge 

 over tlie Rio Reventazon. To quote from our diary: "The 

 fourth and last bromeliad was in the forest about 200 feet 

 above the river and 10-12 feet above ground on a tree trunk. 

 * * * After half an hour's tugging and pulling, the mass, 

 consisting of three plants and weighing surely not less than 

 fifty pounds, fell to the ground. I cut off the leaves as before 

 and very soon found a dragonfly larva between the bases of 

 two leaves not many leaves in from the circumference. In 

 the hour I remained after the plants fell, no other larvse were 

 found and there was much still to be examined, so I left the 

 plants where they had fallen. At 9 A. M. [Oct. 4] I resumed 



