Beautiful Butterflies and Moths stamps and first-day covers launched

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"Most people, at some time in their lives, have marvelled at the beauty and grace of a butterfly darting from flower to flower, or have looked on in fascination at a moth drawn to the flickering light of a candle," said Johan van Wyk, senior manager of philatelic services for the SA Post Office.

"We are thrilled that we can display these majestic creatures on our national stamps." Van Wyk was speaking at the launch of the Beautiful Butterflies and Moths stamp set at Butterfly World outside of Paarl recently.

Butterflies belong to one of the most diverse orders of insects. Worldwide, there are 127 different families of moths and butterflies, consisting of more than 100 000 species.

Two species already extinct

In South Africa, there are about 670 butterfly species. Two species have already become extinct, three are listed as critically endangered, six are endangered and 29 are vulnerable.

"We feel that this is a critical stage in our efforts to spotlight how beautiful and interesting our local Lepidoptera are, and how worthy of care and conservation. We hope that the stamps will help promote this and increase public awareness of butterflies," said Steve Woodhall, president of the Lepidopterists Society of Africa.

The SA Post Office have printed 70 000 of these limited edition stamp sets. The stamp sets along with the first-day covers are available at selected Post Office branches nationwide.