Butterflies, Nicaragua

We seem to be having a little snow this morning, but the kind that just fools you and never really stays so you just cant be joyful about it. Speaking of which, we haven't had any real snow this winter, unlike the previous one, when there had been snow in abundance, but of course, I wasn't here to see it.

Anyway, today's post has nothing to do with no, and is nowhere close to letter S, but being at letter B, here we have two Butterflies' sheets, that I actually totally overlooked when the theme of the week was butterflies, and it has been haunting me ever since, so no wonder it is the first thing that crossed my mind for the day :D

Plus I realized that this makes it my first post with Nicaraguan stamps, so I'll drink to that too :)

These were issued in the year 2000, showing different types of butterflies in Nicaragua. It is actually astonishing how many different types are out there, to me they are all just fragile and beautiful, but I could never really make any differentiation.

The first sheet above shows butterflies that can be found in The Mombacho Nature Reserve, and features the following beauties:

- Catonephele numilia also known as the blue-frosted banner, or Grecian shoemaker
- Marpesia marcella or pansy daggerwing
- Heliconius hecalesia, or the five-spotted longwing
- Actinote thalia
- Doxocopa laurentia or the turquoise emperor
- Napeogenes tolosa mombachoensis or the Tolosa tigerwing

In general, I would choose as a favourite something where the blue colour is dominant, but in this case, my absolute favourite is the first stamp - it is just full of splendour!

And down to the other sheet now, which features butterflies that can be seen in the Bosawás Biosphere Reserve.

- Heliconius cydno or the cydno longwing
- Nessaea aglaura or the common olivewing
- Godyris zavaleta or the Zavaleta glasswing,
- Caligo atreus or the yellow-edged giant owl
- Morpho amathonte  - and without a doubt this one is my absolute favourite here. I mean I just couldn't ask for more blue on a single butterfly ❤❤❤
- Eryphanis polyxena lycomedon

So that would be my B-contribution for today (could also use it under 'feeling Blah' but so far I haven't seen such stamps).

For more interesting stamps for today, head over to today's edition of Sunday Stamps!

PS. I have to thank Sissel for sending me these back from her trip in Nicaragua, cos she thought I may like them - I mean, of course I do :)))

Butterflies, Spain

My initial thought of 'i have so many butterflies' stamps' in the end proved terribly wrong but luckily I did find a few things for today's edition of Sunday's Post and eventually the choice fell on this Spanish FDC issued on 1st of April 2010.

I love butterflies! They are just so delicate and beautiful and sometimes with such vibrant and amazing colours....and it when I was a child it was such a challenge to be able to catch one for a few seconds and let it crawl over your hands while you admire its beauty

On this Spanish FDC you can see two different kinds of butterflies, namely the Euphydryas aurinia /The marsh fritillary which is widespread in the Palaearctic region from Ireland in the West to Yakutia in the East, and to North-west China and Mongolia in the South.(the top one on the big image on the FDC and the one on the right stamp), and the Zerynthia rumina / the Spanish Festoon which is a widespread species in Spain and frequents most habitats. (the one at the bottom on the big image and the one on the left stamp).

Btw, I love the Spanish word 'mariposa' compared to the German one for example, 'Schmetterling' - there is just nothing gentle about it :D.

Wanna see more beauties like this? Well just check out today's episode of Sunday Stamps :)