hungerford: aquatic hemiptera. 19 



the richest fauna for the student of inland waters. It would 

 be interesting to note the characteristics of each pool or stream 

 surveyed in the course of these studies, from west to east, but 

 time and space will not permit. A few types are described 

 here and in the body of the text and a few photographs pre- 

 sented to indicate the nature of the water bodies. See Plates 

 I and II with attending legends. 



NOTES ON A FEW STREAMS AND STANDING WATERS STUDIED. 



Westerm Kansas. 



Collections have been available from every county in the 

 western half of Kansas, but only the thirteen counties north 

 and west of Lane county have been surveyed by the writer. 

 This region is drained by three rivers and their tributaries. 

 The Republican river and its branches, Beaver, Sappa and 

 Prairie Dog Creeks, cover Decatur, Rawline, Cheyenne, Sher- 

 man, and most of Thomas counties. The Solomon arises in 

 Thomas county and passes through Sheridan, while the Smoky 

 Hill drains Wallace, Greeley, Logan, Wichita, Scott and Gove 

 counties. 



Most of these streams are intermittent, often sinking into 

 the sands of their channels during a dry spell. At the time 

 collections were made near Russell Springs, in Logan county, 

 the Smoky Hill river was a stream eighteen inches broad and 

 from one-half to three inches deep on a bed of sand several rods 

 wide. A few pools were found where water bugs could be col- 

 lected. Several weeks later, when we were camped farther up 

 the river in Wallace county, the stream had ceased to flow. 

 The camp was set under a few willow trees on a sandy flat 

 some distance from the channel and several feet higher than 

 the normal water mark. This sandy stretch, close to the place 

 where the water should have been, was splendid collecting for 

 Toad bugs. There was no vegetation or other shelter to ob- 

 struct collecting. A few nights after arriving at this place a 

 rain up-stream caused a great change. The entire flat, includ- 

 ing our camping place was covered with water very shortly. 

 We concluded, from this experience, that the vicissitudes of 

 the inhabitants of the sandy stretches bordering western Kan- 

 sas rivers must evidently be great — one hour upon dry sand 

 and the next submerged beneath a seething torrent of water. 



