Mr. Kinnear’s material was taken at a small slough four miles northeast
of Caldwell. The slough had been dry all summer. It will be remembered
that the drought of the summer of 1901 was very severe, but a spring a
little distance from the edge still contained a little pool of water,
perhaps three feet in diameter, although it had ceased to run into the
slough. In this little pool of water a few small crayfish, about one
inch in length, were noticed; while none of the small specimens were
taken, they undoubtedly belong to the same species as the eight adults
secured at the same place.
The specimens were secured in digging a well in the old spring. They
had burrowed down through the loose surface soil for from six to
thirty-six inches, depending upon whether the burrows were at the
center or on the edge of the old basin of the spring. The burrows,
which were about two inches in diameter, went down almost
perpendicularly until they came to the surface of a stratum of
Wellington shale. Here they were enlarged into almost round chambers,
about ten inches in diameter and not more than three inches in height.
The burrows were supplied with “chimneys” above. In these chambers
the crayfish were found. They were not very active or pugnacious.
The whole burrow was, of course, filled with water. The crayfish had
burrowed down a little ways into the rather disintegrated shale. The
excavations into the shale were conical, about four inches in diameter
at the top and four inches deep. Mr. Kinnear thought that, as the shale
was somewhat softened by the water, the crayfish had removed it bit by
bit. There were about three or four of the main burrows coming from the
upper surface terminating in the large chambers as described above.
These chambers were then connected by passageways running from one to
another.
Two of the specimens were taken August 1, and the other six August
25-27. Two were males and the other six females. All the females
were, with one exception, well loaded with eggs, which appear, from
an examination with a hand lens, to be in a very early stage of
development, and have probably been only comparatively recently laid.
So far as reported, this species is confined to a narrow strip of
territory running north for about eighty miles from the southern
boundary of the state and drained by the Arkansas river.
=3. Cambarus gracilis= Bundy.
Specimens of this species are hard to obtain, and this doubtless
accounts for its few localities. It is found in the territory drained
by the Arkansas (1) as well as that drained by the Kansas river (2).
In August, 1901, I found an adult female of _C. gracilis_ in a stagnant
pond near Lawrence—the only time I have ever taken an adult specimen
in open water during the summer.
=4. Cambarus diogenes= Girard.
Reported so far only from a limited territory along the Kansas and
Missouri rivers, in the northeastern part of the state. As with _C.
gracilis_, the difficulty of obtaining material probably accounts for
the rarity of the reports on this species.
=5. Cambarus immunis= Hagen.
Mr. Crevecœur collected _C. immunis_ in a stagnant pond on the prairie
near Onaga, Pottawatomie county, April 1, 1901.
The pond had been in existence about six years, and had never been
known to go dry. The nearest creek was about a quarter of a mile
away. They were probably never connected when the water was high in
the creek. No fish had ever been taken in the pond, but specimens
of _Amblystoma tigrinum_ (green) were found. (_A. tigrinum_ and _C.
immunis_ are sometimes found in the same ponds in Douglas county.)
Among a dozen specimens given to me, some of the females were carrying
eggs but none were noticed with young.
Mr. Crevecœur drained the pond in obtaining the material, and was
careful to secure a representative collection. If _C. gracilis_ were
common in the region, it would not be improbable that females would be
found in the pond at this time.
Reports so far would indicate a distribution of this species from
the Missouri river west along the Kansas and its tributaries nearly
two-thirds the distance across the state.
=5a. Cambarus immunis Hagen, var. spinorostris= Faxon.
The limits of distribution are embraced within those given for _C.
immunis_.
=6. Cambarus nais= Faxon.
So far as reported, this species is confined to the southeastern
portion of the state, drained by the tributaries of the Arkansas river.
=7. Cambarus virilis= Hogue.