Today we finally moved in to Las Cuevas! We first stopped at the Rio On swimming hole on the way here, although I just waded and explored because I never want to be in a wet swimsuit again. On the bus we also found out that we are all terrible at BS, because none of us are honest and we love calling each other out on it.

I saw swarms of unidentified black and orange butterflies on the side of the road in dirt clearings, and when we reached Las Cuevas I found about 6 dead swallowtails in the grass.

After putting our bags in our rooms, we had a quick introductory hike around the smallest loop at Las Cuevas. I felt quite stylish in my field outfit of rubber boots, hiking socks, and field pants tucked into hiking socks. Halfway into the hike, as we encountered a steep hill, Scott informed us that we were standing on Mayan ruins! The hill was a pyramid, and a Mayan ball game court was nearby. We all climbed the pyramid, but there was nothing of note at the top.

Notable sightings on the trail were katydids and oropendola, a type of bird that makes sac-shaped nests hanging from trees.

One personal goal achieved today: I ate a live termite! They were having (? is this the correct word) their nuptial flight on the porch outside our rooms, and Scott told us to just grab them out of the air, pick off the wings, and eat them. It didn’t have much of a flavor–I definitely wouldn’t be opposed to having some as a last resort snack in the jungle.

There were lepidoptera everywhere tonight, especially in the classroom where they were harassing everybody during the lecture. My personal favorites:

They all had amazing patterns, most of them mimicking leaves-the last one even had transparent holes in its wings to mimic holes in dead leaves.

Note from future self: I’m finding it pretty difficult to identify my moths; my main source is this guide to moth silhouettes from bugguide.net.