From Frederick Smith   27 June [1862]1

British Museum

27th. June

My dear Sir

I did not answer directly as I wished to show your insects to Mr. Walker—thinking as they belonged to a family he has monographed—I should get you the name generic as well as specific—2 Mr. Walker however does not come as usual—so I write to say that the insect belongs in my opinion—to the genus Tetrastichus— Fam. Chalcididæ ⁠⟨⁠    ⁠⟩⁠ I do not know— when I see Mr. Walker I will try and get the name—or names for I think the specimen with mottled or banded wings is distinct— you shall have all I can ascertain in a day or two

Yours very truly | Fredk Smith

Chas. Darwin Esqre.

1
The year is established by the relationship to the letter from Frederick Smith, 28 June 1862.
2
Smith refers to his colleague at the British Museum, the entomologist Francis Walker, and to Walker’s Monographia Chalciditum (Walker 1839). The letter in which CD asked Smith to identify these insects has not been found; however, see the letter from Frederick Smith, 28 June 1862 and n. 3.

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-3622,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-3622