Action For Species 2: Endangered Insects

Insects are not usually something that I consider to be beautiful. I have always liked butterflies, dragonflies and ladybugs, but others….not so much. They creep, they crawl, they fly, they bite or sting, and some can even jump…oh no!

Great Britain’s Royal Mail released new stamps in their “Action for Species series on April 15, 2008. Each stamp, in the 10 stamp series features, an insect that is endangered in the United Kingdom. The stamps show how beautiful and delicate each insect really is.

This set of endangered insects stamps are the second set issued by Great Britain. The first set in the series, issued in September 2007, featured endangered birds. The insects were photographed in London at the Natural History Museum. They currently hold 28 million insect specimens. Because of a loss in habitat, the insects featured have been put on the endangered list.

The insects depicted on the stamps include: the Adonis Blue Butterfly (my personal favorite), the Southern Damselfly, the Red Barbed Ant, the Barberry Carpet Moth, the Stag Beetle, the Hazel Pot Beetle, the Field Cricket, the Silver-spotted Skipper, the Purbeck Mason Wasp and the Noble Chafer Beetle.

Each species of plant, insect or animal that is placed on an endangered list should be of concern to everyone….no matter what part of the globe you reside. All living things have a purpose on this earth, even if they make you squirm!