Previous page The A-frame had electricity so I was able to run the mercury vapor light both nights. Given that the back yard was a shade-grown coffee field surrounded by more open fields, my suspicions it would be pretty slow were confirmed. There was a beautiful wasp mimicking Arctiid though. Click here to see it and the other insects that came in. ... .... ... One of the most enjoyable aspects of this trip was the time spent with Aracelly, Omar’s wife. She doesn’t work much in the vivero but is a real hiker and does much of the collecting of fresh stock. On three different occasions we went out turning logs and looking for species which they might be able to cultivate. We didn’t find much, even in forests that looked pretty decent. My guess is that the forests are suffering from fragmentation and edge effect, being only a few hectares surrounded by coffee fields or cattle pastures. Like I have seen in much of Costa Rica, Dracaena is used for living fences. The view of the Central Valley was nice though, and at night, spectacular if you like city lights! Still, we had a good time and found interesting things including some seeds that the girls were fond of eating. Click here to check them out. ... ... For lunch and dinner each evening I would walk up the hill to the house. Breakfast was brought to me when Veronica and Natalia came to work. During these times we would visit and, like with others, became pretty good friends in a short time. They would have liked me to stay a few days longer but since collecting was so poor and on Monday I would be leaving for an entire week, I thought it best to return Friday afternoon. ... Omar and his family are very interested in working with some non-butterfly species and will be trying to find some of the larger insects they know of before I leave Costa Rica. Joris has a meeting of the breeders scheduled for June 4 so I expect I’ll see Omar then. ... Soon after lunch on Friday, Anna came by to take me back to La Guacima. We had our hugs good bye and through pouring rain we drove down the mountain. Though Anna is building a large greenhouse intended for herbs, Omar is encouraging her to consider butterflies as a more lucrative and enjoyable work. I know I would enjoy doing it full time! ....