Arachnids on stamps: January 2015

Saturday, January 31, 2015

Singapore (1998)

Date of issue: June 5th, 1998
Name of issue: Fragile forest
Number of arachnid related stamps in issue: 2/10

Another very nice series in two booklets of self adhesive stamps.

In the upper right corners of the booklets, there is a "scratchable" area. I was very curious to know what was under there, but I did not want to damage my own items. So I decided to buy a second set so that I could look! Anyhow, as you will see on the scans below, one of the booklets had the Haplopelma lividum drawing (on the booklet of the Pandinus imperator) and the other had the iguana drawing.

Now I was wondering if they are all like that, or if these icons were random and some others will have anyone of the stamps from the series. I became obsessed with that theory. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a very expensive experiment that I still do not have the answer to. I bought a ton of these from one dealer and they turned out to be all the same.

Interestingly, I found the "greater mouse deer" icon for both sheets. Therefore, if I am correct in my deduction, there are 10 different stamps in this series, that would make 10 different versions of each booklet!

I would normally be on the quest to buy everything I can find (this series is not that common), but sadly, I also discovered that depending how the booklets were stored, the "scratchable" area becomes "un-scratchable" through time because of humidity damage.

The catalogue lists the species names even if they do not appear on the stamps.

Michel #: 891
Scott #: 847
Yvert #: 862
order: Scorpiones
family: scorpionidae
Pandinus imperator (C. L. Koch, 1841)

Michel #: 895
Scott #: 851
Yvert #: 866
order: Araneae
family: Theraphosidae
Haplopelma lividum Smith, 1996*
now:
Cyriopagopus lividus (Smithi 1996)

First booklet:

right upper corner scratched
note Haplopelma lividum icon

right upper corner scratched
note the greater mouse deer icon

Second booklet:

right upper corner scratched
note the iguana icon

right upper corner scratched
note the greater mouse deer icon

Other stamps of this series:

Singapore - Scorpion

Date of issue: June 5th, 1998
Name of issue: Fragile forest
Number of arachnid related stamps in issue: 2/10

Michel #: 891
Scott #: 847
Yvert #: 862
order: Scorpiones
family: scorpionidae
Pandinus imperator (C. L. Koch, 1841)

For more information on this series, click HERE

Singapore - Spider

Date of issue: June 5th, 1998

Name of issue: Fragile forest
Number of arachnid related stamps in issue: 2/10

Michel #: 895
Scott #: 851
Yvert #: 866
order: Araneae
family: Theraphosidae
Haplopelma lividum Smith, 1996*
now:
Cyriopagopus lividus (Smithi 1996)

For more information on this series, click HERE

Singapore - Spiders

Date of issue: June 5th, 1998
Name of issue: Fragile forest
Number of arachnid related stamps in issue: 2/10

This is from the scratch off portion in the upper right corner of one of the booklets. The artwork is the same as the stamp.

Michel #: none
order: Araneae
family: Theraphosidae
Haplopelma lividum Smith, 1996

Booklet:

scratched

Michel #: 887-891
intact

For more information about this series, click HERE

Saturday, January 24, 2015

Singapore (2011)

Date of issue: February 16th, 2011 (high value definitives)
April 13th, 2011 (low value definitives)
Name of issue: Pond life
Number of arachnid related stamps in issue: 1/14

Another brilliant series from Singapore with exceptional art work. What the scans do not reveal is that every animal has a metallic sheen to it when angled properly. They have issued as well two more stamps in 2012 that are part of this series. The souvenir sheet is absolutely amazing, it incorporates every stamp of that series.

Information from the postal services booklet (please note that the information about the animals may or may not be accurate, I am simply re-typing the information).

A pond is an inland body of standing water, either natural or man-made, which is smaller than a lake. It undergoes marked changes as time passes, and the most obvious changes that one will notice is that one form of plant follows or succeeds another, and the different life forms that make the pond a lively busy place.

There are plenty of opportunities for exciting discoveries at a pond, and this set of definitives stamps ($1.10, $2, $5, $10) with its intricate designs, shows some commonly found life forms at a pond.

Pond Wolf Spiders (Pardosa pseudoannulata) are members of the family Lycosidae, and are robust and agile hunters, and have good eyesight. They live mostly solidary lives and hunt alone. Wolf spiders are unique in carrying their eggs along with them in a round silken globe, or egg sac, which they attach to the spinnerets at the end of their abdomen. The abdomen must be held in a raised position to keep the egg case from dragging on the ground, but they are still capable of hunting while so encumbered. Also unique to wolf spiders is their method of infant care. Immediately after the little spiders hatch and emerge from their protective silken case, they clamber up their mother's legs and all crowd onto her abdomen.