On 7 September 2018, a new series of KEP postage stamps, dedicated to butterflies of Kyrgyzstan, comes into circulation.
The geographical position and special topography of Kyrgyzstan determine its unique biological diversity of arthropod fauna (insects). According to some scientists’ estimates, there are 30,000 species in our country. The concentration of arthropod species in Kyrgyzstan is three times higher than the world average.
Butterflies are insects belonging to the order Lepidoptera. Butterflies attract by virtue of their remarkable appearance, but, among other things, they also play an important role in natural ecosystems, serving as pollinators of many species of flowering plants. In the cultures of various nations, butterflies acted as symbols of freedom, love and hope.
Some species of butterflies are very rare and are listed in the Red Book of the Kyrgyz Republic.
The wide variety of butterflies and their beauty served as an incentive for the emergence and development of a very popular hobby - butterfly collecting. Many outstanding figures in art, culture and business, were fond of this hobby, having outstanding collections. For example, the private collection of British financier, Walter Rothschild, numbered about 2 and a quarter million butterfly specimens. And the writer, Vladimir Nabokov, not only possessed an interesting collection of insects, but he also wrote several serious scientific articles on Lepidopterology.
Butterflies are very vulnerable insects and need active protection from humans. We hope that the new KEP issue will contribute to the protection of these remarkable representatives of fauna.
KEP is grateful to Mr. Dmitrii Milko, Senior Researcher at the Institute of Biology and Soil Sciences of the National Academy of Sciences of the Kyrgyz Republic (IBSS NAS KR), for his valuable advisory assistance.
