New postal stamps to celebrate pollinators

Consisting of six beautiful insects, a new set of ‘Brilliant Bugs’ stamps has been released by the Royal Mail to celebrate our pollinators.

The stamps are illustrated by Richard Lewington, an acclaimed wildlife artist whose other recent work includes the illustrations for the Field Guide to the Caterpillars of Great Britain and Ireland and the RSPB Spotlight ID charts.

Professor Helen Roy, an ecologist at the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (CEH) and president of the Royal Entomological Society, was involved in choosing the six species.

“I am always delighted to have an opportunity to celebrate insects. The Royal Mail has produced several beautiful sets of stamps featuring insects over the years and I was pleased to assist with one of these, the Ladybird ‘Post & Go’ stamps, issued in 2016,” she said on the CEH website.

“So, when I heard from Royal Mail again in February 2019 about working on a new set of entomological stamps, I didn’t hesitate to confirm my excitement at getting involved … the new collection would provide an opportunity to celebrate the amazing diversity of insects that visit flowers.”

The stamps are available to buy from the Royal Mail as a set, as well as in a presentation pack, as postcards and framed.

The six species chosen for the stamps were:

Common carder bee (Bombus pascuorum)

Marmalade hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus)

Elephant hawk-moth (Deilephila elpenor)

Longhorn beetle (Rutpela maculata)

Painted lady butterfly (Vanessa cardui)

Ruby-tailed wasp (Chrysis ignita agg)

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Main image: Painted lady butterfly stamp. © Royal Mail