Lepidoptera

Sunday Stamps' theme this week is Summertime.  Our hostess suggests her favourite, butterflies, one of my favourite creatures as well. What promises summer more than the first sighting of a butterfly? This stamp from Romania possibly capturers that moment of wonder and joy that they bring into our life. I rather like caterpillars as well but I didn't have any stamps of those so here are some butterflies from Hungary, the

first the Swallowtail (Papilio Machaon), one of the largest butterfly families in the world.  I like how this set shows lepidoptera at different angles on their plant of choice

and that it includes a moth, the stubby antennae one of their distinctive features. The one shown is the Tiger Moth (Arctia Hebe). Moths come in colours just as vivid as butterflies but unless you have access to a moth trap, not often seem. The next of course is the easily recognised male  Blue Butterfly (Lysandra Hylas). Some females of this species are not blue but brown but with a scattering of blue scales.  Lastly

comes the Purple Emperor (Apatura Ilia), the male is sometimes known in my country as "His Majesty" and looks spectacular in sunlight.  Lastly the Scarce Copper (Lycaena Virgaureae) found in Central Europe on flower rich meadows.

This set of stamps was designed by Vertel Jozsef (1922-1993) a prolific designer of Hungarian stamps on a variety of subjects  from 1949 to 1993. He produced about 200 designs both for his own country and others. This issue of 1959 would not be his last on the subject of butterflies.

An entry for Sunday Stamps hosted by Viridian's Postcard