The first mention of bats in Nebraska possibly was by Harrison Allen,
in his "Monograph of the Bats of North America" (1864:14, 20, 30, 35,
42), who listed _Nycticejus crepuscularis_ [= _Nycticeius humeralis_],
_Lasiurus borealis_, _Scotophilus carolinensis_ and _Scotophilus
fuscus_ [both = _Eptesicus fuscus_], and _Scotophilus noctivagans_ [=
_Lasionycteris noctivagans_], as collected in "Nebraska" (then Nebraska
Territory) by J. G. Cooper. Henry W. Setzer (in _litt._) reports that
none of the bats collected by Cooper now exists in the United States
National Museum and that no data pertaining to any of them are
available except that a single specimen of _Nycticeius humeralis_ was
traded to the British Museum in 1866. Cooper journeyed through parts of
the present state of Nebraska in the summer and autumn of 1857 and,
judging from Taylor's (1919:72-80) report of Cooper's travels, this was
the only time he entered any part of Nebraska Territory. The writers
are of the opinion that the specimens in question probably were
collected in Nebraska; but since Allen listed no exact localities or
dates of collection and since the specimens and data pertaining to them
are not now available, we have not included them here as Nebraskan
records.
In the first comprehensive account of Nebraskan mammals, Myron H. Swenk
(1908:137-139) listed six kinds of bats, _Myotis evotis_, _Myotis
californicus ciliolabrum_ [= _Myotis subulatus subulatus_],
_Lasionycteris noctivagans_, _Eptesicus fuscus_, _Lasiurus borealis_,
and _Lasiurus cinereus_, as occurring within the state. Zimmer
(1913:665) recorded _Nyctinomus mexicanus_ [= _Tadarida mexicana_] from
Nebraska. Subsequently, Swenk (1915:854) reported _Myotis lucifugus
lucifugus_ in the state and three years later (1918:411) he reported
_Eptesicus fuscus pallidus_ for the first time. The report of _M. l.
lucifugus_ seemingly was not substantiated by any actual specimens. The
addition of _Myotis volans interior_ (Quay, 1948:181) brought to ten
the number of species and subspecies of bats reported from the state.
In the present paper, _Myotis keenii septentrionalis_, _Myotis
lucifugus carissima_, and _Pipistrellus subflavus subflavus_ are
reported from Nebraska for the first time. Also, the first authentic
record of _Myotis lucifugus lucifugus_ is presented, along with
additional information on previously reported species. A total number
of 169 specimens from Nebraska was available for the present study.
This includes almost all of the known specimens preserved in all
collections as well as material obtained by us in the past six years.
Nebraska has no natural caves or caverns; however, there are two
extensive man-made limestone caves near Louisville, in Cass and Sarpy
counties, where four kinds of bats have been found. Two of these are
here reported as new to Nebraska. The quarries, one on either side of
the Platte River Valley, are in a horizontal stratum of limestone 40
feet in thickness, and are of the room and pillar type; that is to say,
the stone has been quarried away leaving rooms having supporting
pillars approximately every 50 feet. The average temperatures in summer
and winter within these tunnels, recorded over a period of several
years by the Ash Grove Lime and Portland Cement Company of Louisville,
are 65 deg. F. and 50 deg. F. respectively. The Kiewit Stone Quarry,
abandoned since 1936, is one-half mile west of Meadow, Sarpy County,
and has one remaining entrance measuring approximately 30 by 30 feet.
This quarry has an area of approximately one-fifth square mile and is
usually flooded with several feet of water. The other man-made cave,
known formerly as the National Stone Quarry, is one mile northeast of
Louisville, Cass County. This quarry was abandoned in September, 1938,
and until the winter of 1948-1949 had eight or nine entrances and two
air shafts. It was approximately one-third square mile in area. All the
openings to this quarry were covered in late 1949. Bats were first
observed in the National Stone Quarry by one of us (Webb) as early as
1939, less than a year after operations in the quarry ceased.