This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.
4 [[preprinted]] 4, Thurlestone Road, Newton Abbot, Devon. [[/preprinted]] I also put in [[male symbol]] [[double underlined]] German [[/double underlined]] [[underlined]] niger [[/underlined]] collected by Nixon & given me. It is not very good, but may interest you [[strikethrough]] to see [[/strikethrough]], as I have only [[strikethrough]] heard [[/strikethrough]] seen about half a dozen British in all. It is not considered very common abroad either. I have not, ^ [[insertion]] [[strikethrough]] [[?]] [[/strikethrough]] myself [[/insertion]] so far as I can remember, used the names [[/underlined]] fasciatus [[/underlined]] & [[underlined]] miniatus [[/underlined]] for our two little [[underlined]] Sphecodes [[/underlined]] in print, but Blüthgen naturally has. The merest glance at the relatively large [[lacunia?]] of [[male symbol]] [[underlined]] miniatus [[/underlined]] will at once distinguish it from [[strikethrough]] [[a?]] [[/strikethrough]] [[underlined]] fasciatus [[/underlined]]. External characters are very poor. Chambers sent me a dozen or more [[male symbol]] [[underlined]] Sph. [[/underlined]]] supposed by him to be [[underlined]] dimidiatus [[/underlined]], but only [[double underlined]] 2 [[/double underlined]] were so. I picked these out [[underlined]] correctly before [[/underlined]] examining the genitalia, how I know not. The mesonotal punctures of the one are much denser & stronger than in the other. [[strikethrough]] [[?]] [[/strikethrough]] Similar variation occurs in (variegatus) [[underlined]] crassus [[/underlined]] Th. The[[female symbol]] of the latter is sometimes almost like [[underlined]] miniatus [[/underlined]], sometimes like [[underlined]] fasciatus [[/underlined]] & I can send you nothing at present that would help in distinguishing this sex. I have scribbled this in great haste & hope I have made no errors & that it is legible! With kindest regards & best wishes for the season. Yours very truly R.C.L. Perkins
Transcription Notes:
Reviewed. Edited markup in line with this and previous Stelfox projects for consistency.[[lacunia?]] possibly a misspelling of lacuna? -@siobhanleachman