Date of issue: March 17th, 2012
Number of arachnid related stamps in issue: 2/2
Information from the
Lithuanian Postal Services (please note that the information about the animals may or may not be accurate,
I am simply copying/pasting the information from the linked website).
On Saturday, March 17, two new postage stamps from the series The Red List of Lithuania will appear in circulation. The new postage stamps feature the endangered spiders included into the Red List of Lithuania.
The postage stamps have been created by the artist Aušrelė Ratkevičienė. The tête-bêche postage stamps are printed on the same small sheet, four sets in each. Each postage stamp has been issued in edition of 100 000 copies with nominal value of LTL 2.90.
Along with the postage stamps, the first day cover, first day sheet and two maximum cards, one per stamp, will be issued. On Saturday, in Vilnius Main Post Office, postal correspondence paid by the new postage stamps will be stamped with the first day cancellation.
The Fen Raft Spider (Dolomedes plantarius) belonging to the Family Pisauridae lives around the margins of waterbodies, in peatlands and swampy forests. They vigorously glide over the water and hide in case of danger. Fen raft spiders hunt for various arthropods fallen into the water.
Fen raft spiders are found in swamps and forests of Western, Central, and Eastern Europe. However, despite a wide distribution of the species, it is difficult to estimate its population because of similarity with the raft spider.
The Ladybird Spider (
Eresus cinnaberinus) of the family
Eresidae is the most beautiful spider of distinctive appearance found in Lithuania. Due to a hidden lifestyle it is especially rare. The lady bird spiders usually hunt for big beetles having a firm chitin shell (dung-beetles, skippers). They live in southern slopes protected from wind, in dry locations and sandy soil.
This species is included into the Red Lists of majority European countries. In Lithuania, it was discovered in 1999 and 2002 in Jurbarkas District
 |
Michel #: ?
order: Araneae
family: Pisauridae
Dolomedes plantarius (Clerck, 1757) |
Eresus cinnaberinus (Olivier, 1789) is
nomen dubium
 |
Michel #: ?
order: Araneae
family: Eresidae
Eresus cinnaberinus (Olivier, 1789) |
Full sheet:
