HARRIS: CRAYFISHES OF KANSAS. 265 



C. gracilis, Biindy, '82, male F. I and female. 

 C. gracilis, Faxon, '85, male F. I and female, with figs, of first 

 abd. app. of male F. I. 



C. gracilis. Hay 'g6, male F. I and female, with sketch of 

 carapace, lamina, annulus ventralis and abd. app. of male F. I. 



1. Labette county, W. S. Newlon, coll. (Faxon '85 b). 



2. Douglas county. Stagnant ponds in early spring and bur- 

 rows later in the summer. 



Being a burrower, C. gracilis is one of the species which is hard 

 to obtain, especially the males, and this probably accounts. for the 

 meager reports of its distribution. Mr. H. Garman says' that he 

 has examined hundreds of specimens taken along water courses in 

 the neighborhood of Normal, Illinois, and has not found a dozen 

 males. Hay '95 says: "It is a burrower, coming forth probably 

 only during the breeding season in the early spring when it inhab- 

 its the water courses." I have found this species very plentiful 

 near Lawrence in stagnant ponds in early spring, but I have never 

 known of its being taken in running creeks. In one pond w'hich I 

 watched carefully, the females appeared March 13, igoo. The 

 males did not appear until April 15, when in company with some 

 some other collectors I secured one. Some da5's later Professor 

 McClung and Mr. Baumgartner took another at the top of its bur- 

 row in a pasture not far from the pond mentioned above. 



I have not succeeded in determining the date of copulation or 

 laying of eggs. The eggs in the ovaries of females taken in the 

 spring were by no means fully developed. I have found some 

 females carrying young in the early spring. 



In August Mr. Martin and myself took two males and one fe- 

 male from the mouth of their burrows. These burrows were in a 

 yard some distance from a running stream but where the ground 

 was inclined to be somewhat wet in rainy weather. They came 

 up at night and sat at the mouth of their burrows, probably watch- 

 ing for prey, and dropping back in at any sign of danger. The 

 animal does not seem to be entirely nocturnal in its habits and is 

 not unfrequently found at the top of its burrow in the daytime. 



The low lands in which these crayfishes live are not unfrequently 

 flooded at times of great rainfall. In this case the animals emerge 

 from their burrows and upon the subsidence of the of the water 

 may be found wandering around over the surface of the ground. 



The females which I have examined of this species are olive 

 1 Faxon 'S5, p. 58. 



