Winged Butterfly – Sweden 2008

On 15 May 2008, Sweden Post issued the stamp set which featured the wing of butterfly. The issue stamp depicts the species of butterfly, Apollo or Parnassius apollo, and Dark Green Fritillary or Argynnis aglaja.

Apollo

The Apollo butterfly or Mountain Apollo (Parnassius apollo), is a butterfly of the Papilionidae family.It is found on mountains in Europe usually above 1,000 metres  up to 2,000 m , preferring flowery meadows and mountain pastures.The Apollo is listed on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals.

The Apollo butterfly (Parnassius apollo) is a beautiful white butterfly, decorated with large black "eye" spots on the forewings and red eye-spots on the hind wings. Its shown on the above stamp and complete view (besides stamp). The picture of Apollo taken from Wikipedia.

Dark Green Fritillary

The Dark Green Fritillary (Argynnis aglaja) is a butterfly of the Nymphalidae family. The insect has a wide range in the Palearctic ecozone - Europe, Morocco, Iran , Siberia, Central Asia, China, Korea and Japan.The characteristic habitat of this butterfly is open, windswept calcareous grassland. However, in some areas it can also be found in woodland clearings and coastal dunes.

The Dark Green Fritillary is a large, powerful, orange and black butterfly. It can be seen flying rapidly in a range of open sunny habitats.The Dark Green Fritillary has an extra row of orange-ringed 'pearls' on the underside of the hind wing. Its seen in the above stamp and full picture which taken from Wikipedia.

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Butterflies on Tuvalu’s Stamp - 2009

On year 2009 Tuvalu Post issued stamp series depicted species of butterflies, Hyposcada kezia, Heteronymphea mirifica, Libythea geoffroy, Protographium Leosthenes.

Hyposcada kezia (60c) is species of genus Hyposcada in the family of Nymphalidae.

Heteronympha mirifica (90c),

The female of  Heteronympha mirifica is orange with creamy yellow and dark brown patches towards the tip of its forewings (front wings). The male is less colourful, being brown and orange with no pale patches. It is difficult to identify these butterflies when they are resting with their wings closed.  

Butterflies fly from October to May, depending on the area and elevation; they emerge later in higher and cooler areas. These butterflies prefer to settle on or near the ground.

Mating occurs from October to December, after which the males die. The females rest through summer  and appear again in late February to early May to lay their small, pale yellow eggs on the underside of leaves. The females die shortly after laying the eggs and the caterpillars hatch from the eggs after about 12 days.

Libythea geoffroy ($1.00)

The Purple Beak (Libythea geoffroy) is a butterfly found in parts of India and Myanmar that belongs to the Libytheinae group of the Brush-footed butterflies family.

Protographium Leosthenses – $ 2.50

Protographium leosthenes or The Four-barred Swordtail is a medium sized butterfly of the family Papilionidae which found in Australia. It is similar to the Five-barred (or Chain) Swordtail Graphium aristeus found in both Australia and India.  The larvae feed on Desmos wardianus, Melodorum leichhardtii and other Melodorum species.

Indonesian Butterflies -2011

In year 2011, Indonesia Post issued the fauna stamp series feature the protected of butterfly species in Indonesia. Some of those species are endangered. The species depicted on the issue stamps are Delias  kristianiae, Ornithoptera aesacus, Ornithoptera croesus, and Rippon’s birdwing or Troides hypolitus.

Delias kristianiae is a rare Papuan butterfly that is named after the Indonesian first lady Kristiani Herawati. Kristiani Herawati was presented with a specimen of D. kristianiae after the species was named, which she donated to a museum.

Ornithoptera aesacus is a species of birdwing butterfly endemic to Indonesia.It is only found on the heavily logged island of Obi. It is seriously endangered but commercially bred. 

 
 
 

Ornithoptera croesus, commonly known as Wallace's Golden Birdwing is a species of birdwing butterfly found in northern Maluku. The larval food-plant is Pararistolochia.

It is a member of the Ornithoptera priamus species-group which, including croesus, is only found east of Weber's Line. Ornithoptera croesus is now listed as Endangered species. 

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Rippon’s Birdwing or (Troides hypolitus) is a birdwing butterfly endemic to the Moluccas and Sulawesi. It is not significantly threatened, but it is protected.

Troides hypolitus is a butterfly from Australasia / Indomalaya ecozone (Australia). The first description was in 1775 by Cramer. 

The wingspan is about 18 – 20 cm. This butterfly is a member of the family PAPILIONIDAE. The fore wings are black. Some veins are bordered by white colour. The underside of Troides hypolitus is a copy from upside.

The hind wings of Troides hypolitus are grey. The outer edge is black and it contains a chain of golden spots. The veins are black. The underside is a copy from upside. But, the basic colour is white.It has a chain of golden spots on the hind wings. The females are dark-brown and they are bigger than the males.

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Butterflies of Israel - 2011

 

Butterflies have vibrant colours and gentle flight overwhelm us with feelings of wonder and joy. These beautiful flying insects have inspired artists, poets and intellectuals alike. Its beautiful innocent insects.

To date, some 150,000 species belonging to the Lepidoptera order have been identified throughout the world, of which approximately 20,000 species are butterflies, and the rest are moths.

In Israel there are an estimated 2,300 Lepidoptera species, including 142 species of butterflies. Mt. Hermon is the richest butterfly species site in Israel, with no less than 100 different species! Mt. Hermon is the southernmost point of distribution for 30 of these 100 species, which do not fly to any other areas in Israel.

Overall, Israel’s butterfly population may be categorized into seven families. 

Five of those families are represented among the butterflies featured in the stamp series which issued on April 12, 2011 by Israel Post: 

 

Swallowtail - Papilio machaon syriacus represents the Papilionidae family. Many members of his family display prominent colours, including black, yellow and red. These colours serve to warn birds and lizards that they are poisonous.

 

 

 

 

 

Red admiral - Vanessa atalanta represents the Nymphalidae family. Like many of the species belonging to this family, this butterfly remains camouflaged as long as its wings are closed because its underwings are dull in colour, revealing its bold colours only when its wings are open wide.

 
 
 

 

Caper white - Anaphaeis aurota represents the Pieridae family of white and yellow butterflies. This butterfly’s white wings are decorated with black markings. This species migrates to Israel from Africa nearly every summer and it may be seen flying throughout Israel until early winter.

 
 
 
 






 

Plain tiger - Danaus chrysippus is the only representative of the Danainae family to be found in Israel. It migrates annually from Africa to Israel and belongs to the same scientific genus as the American Monarch butterfly, considered to be the most famous butterfly in the world thanks to the tremendous distances it migrates.

 
 






 
 

Common blue - Polyommatus icarus zelleri and Tawny silver-line - Apharitis acamas represent the largest family of butterflies in Israel – the Lycaenidae family.

 
 
 
 
 






 

Like many of the males belonging to this family, the Common blue male is bright blue in colour in order to attract females, while the colouring of the Tawny silver-line allows it to blend into its surroundings and remain camouflaged from its enemies.

 
 
 







 

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) recently declared that the threat of extinction of animal and plant species has reached a level of global crisis. Members of The Israeli Lepidopterists Society promote national butterfly monitoring in Israel, doing so throughout the country. The Society also initiated a bill to protect 14 endangered butterflies species and a law was enacted in 2009. (Resources from Israel Post information).

 

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