19 July 2015

Sunday Stamps II - 31


A fritillary butterfly on a thistle. This was a stamp design winner for 1990.
The fritillary gets its name from the checkered pattern on the wings (fritilus is Latin for dice box or chessboard). This particular one is possibly a silver-washed fritillary that feeds on brambles and thistles. The males are smaller and paler than the female.


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5 comments:

  1. Joy19.7.15

    Beautiful. I like how it stands out against the mysterious background, it even outshines the thistle.

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  2. FinnBadger19.7.15

    Very subtle, and neat to see the background be a large part of the stamp when the butterfly is the main feature.

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  3. viridian19.7.15

    This is a lovely stamp.

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  4. Maria19.7.15

    Thank you for the including the etymology of the word "fritillary" - I've never heard of the word and you saved my time from having to Google it ;-)

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  5. Bob Scotney21.7.15

    All butterflies look better in their natural surroundings. Fine stamp.

    ReplyDelete