Issued by India

Issued on Feb 23, 2017

Issued for : Department of Posts is pleased to issue a set of four Commemorative Postage Stamps on “Ladybird Beetle”.

Credits :
Stamp / Miniature Sheet / Sheetlets / FDC / Brochure / Cancellation Cachet : Shri Suresh Kumar

Type : Miniature Sheet, Mint Condition

Colour : Multi Colour

Denomination : 500 Paise (2), 1500 Paise (2)

Miniature Sheet Printed : 0.1 million

Sheetlets Printed (4 types) : 20000 each

Printing Process : Wet Offset

Printer : Security Printing Press, Hyderabad

About : 

• Beetles are a group of insects that form the order Coleoptera. The word coleoptera is from the Greek which means “sheathed wing”, because most beetles have two pairs of wings, the front pair, being hardened and thickened into a shell-like protection for the rear pair and the beetle’s abdomen. These hard forewings serve as a protective shield for the fragile flying wings, which are folded underneath. The order contains more species than any other order, constituting almost 25% of all known animal life-forms.
• Coccinellidae or ladybird is a widespread family of small beetles. The name coccinellids is derived from the Latin word coccineus meaning “scarlet”. The name “ladybird” originated in Britain where the insects became known as “Our Lady’s bird” or the “Lady beetle”. They are commonly yellow, orange, or red with small black spots on their wing covers, with black legs, heads and antennae. However, such colour patterns vary greatly. They have a bitter taste, and their bright coloration is thought to serve as a warning to predators. Entomologists widely prefer the names ladybird beetles or lady beetles as these insects are not classified as true bugs.
• Most coccinellids have oval, dome-shaped bodies with six short legs. Depending on the species, they can have spots, stripes, or no markings at all. Seven-spotted coccinellids are red or orange with three spots on each side and one in the middle; they have a black head with white patches on each side. Ladybird beetles are mostly under ¼ inch (6 mm) long and are nearly hemispherical in shape, with very short legs.
• The underlying pattern and colouration are determined by the species and genetics of the beetle, and develop as the insect matures. In some species its appearance is fixed by the time it emerges from its pupa, though in most it may take some days for the colour of the adult beetle to mature and stabilise. Generally, the mature colour tends to be fuller and darker than the colour of younger ones.
• Beetles are endopterygotes, which means before emerging as winged adults they undergo complete metamorphosis, a biological process by which an animal physically develops after birth or hatching, undergoing a series of conspicuous and relatively abrupt change in their body structure. The larval life stages of beetles are very diverse in appearance, but generally are elongate with three pairs of jointed legs at the front of the body. They are told apart from caterpillars by the lack of claspers on the hind segments of the body.
• The majority of coccinellids species are generally considered useful insects, because many species prey on herbivorous homopterans such as aphids or scale insects, which are agricultural pests. Nearly all ladybird beetles, both larvae and adults, are predators on destructive, plant-eating insects. It only takes about four weeks for the ladybeetle to transform from a tiny egg to an adult. Some females can lay up to 1,000 eggs in one summer. The ladybeetle may lay her eggs near an aphid colony, or on plants where the larvae will have a ready supply of food when they hatch. The adults gather in large numbers in the fall, prior to winter hibernation, and are often collected at that time by farmers for use in pest control, as Aphids are a huge problem for farmers and gardeners, and therefore a ladybug is a great help to the farmer.
• Text : Based on the material available on internet.

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Issued by Bhutan

Issued on Jan 15, 1997

Colour : Multicoloured

Type : Sheetlet, Mint Condition

Subject : Insects and Arachnids

About : 

• a Sheetlet of 5 X 5 stamps consists of 25 different face values [denomination] showing different insects & arachnids
• 1ch : Apis Laboriosa Smith [Himalayan Honey Bee]
• 2ch : Neptunides Polychromus [Shiny Green Chafer Beetle]
• 3ch : Conocephalus Maculatus
• 4ch : Blattidae [Cockroach]
• 5ch : Dytiscus Marginalis [Great Diving Beetle]
• 10ch : Dynastes Hercules [Hercules Beetle]
• 15ch : Hippodamia [Ladybird]
• 20ch : Sarcophaga Haemorrhoidalis [Red-tailed Flesh Fly]
• 25ch : Lucanus Cervus [Stag Beetle]
• 30ch : Caterpillar [Larvae of Butterflies & Moths]
• 35ch : Lycia Hirtaria [Brindled Beauty]
• 40ch : Clytarlus Pennatus
• 45ch : Ephemera Denica [Green Drake]
• 50ch : Gryllus Campestris [Field Cricket]
• 60ch : Deilephila Elpenor [Elephant Hawk-moth]
• 65ch : Gerris [Water Striders]
• 70ch : Agrion Splendens
• 80ch : Tachyta Nana
• 90ch : Eurydema Pulchra
• 1nu : Hadrurus Hirsutus [Desert Hairy Scorpion]
• 1.5nu : Vespa Germanica [German Yellow Jacket]
• 2nu : Pyrops [Planthopper]
• 2.5nu : Mantis Religiosa [Praying Mantis]
• 3nu : Araneus Diadematus [European Garden Spider]
• 3.5nu : Atrophaneura

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Issued by India

Issued on Feb 29, 1980

Issued for : Indian Posts & Telegraphs Department is happy to commemorate the Second International Conference on Apiculture in Tropical Climates by issuing a special postage stamp.

Description of the Design : The stamp in horizontal format shows bees with symbolic representation of a bee-hive.

The first day cover illustration is an artist’s impression of a bee on a flower.

The first day cancellation consists of a line drawing of the bee-hive alongwith the caption in Hindi and English.

Type : Stamp, Postal Used

Colour : Chestnut and Brown

Designed by : M.K. Bardhan

Denomination : 100 Paise

Overall size : 3.91 x 2.90 cms.

Printing size : 3.55 x 2.54 cms.

Perforation : 13 x 13

Watermark : Printed on unwatermarked adhesive stamp paper

Number printed : 20,00,000

Number per issue sheet : 35

Printing process : Photogravure

Printed at : India Security Press

About : 

• Apiculture or bee-keeping is an industry in the developed countries. In the developing countries its full potential is yet to be realised. The untapped potential for bee-keeping in the tropical countries, with their rich flora and favourable climate, is high. Most of the developing countries in the tropical belt have an urgent need for increasing opportunities for gainful employment and income in the rural areas. Apiculture can make useful contribution in this respect as the research and developmental work already done suggests that it can be raised to the status of a viable economic proposition and a source for stable occupation for the rural masses. In order to achieve a widespread impact, there is need to develop an appropriate technological package supplemented and supported by adequate service and developmental efforts.
  
• Realising the importance of apiculture for honey production as well as for crop pollination, an international conference was organised in London in 1976 by the ‘World Crops’ in collaboration with the International Bee Research Association. The recommendations flowing out of the first conference have intensified research and developmental activities relating to apiculture in tropical climates. The Second International Conference at New Delhi has been organised by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research in collaboration with the Khadi & Village Industries Commission, the Department of Science & Technology and the Indian National Science Academy. The attention in this conference will be focussed on identification of the constraints responsible for the prevailing gap between the potential and actual productivity of apiculture systems in the tropics. The conference will also bend its energies in devising a master plan of action for making apiculture a source of gainful employment in the rural areas of the developing countries in the tropics.

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Issued by Pakistan

Issued on Nov 12, 1979

Issued for : As part of a campaign to create awareness among the people about mankind’s formidable foe – the Cancer. Pakistan Post Office is issuing a special postage stamp of Paisa 40 denomination on November 12, 1979. A postage stamp of 15 paisa denomination was also issued on December 26, 1967 on this theme.

Type : Stamp, Postal Used

Denomination : 40 Paisa

Colours : Yellow, Red and Black

Size of Stamp : 36.77 x 36.77 m.m.

Size of Print : 33.77 x 33.77 m.m.

Perforation : 14 C

Quantity : One Million

Number of Stamps in one Sheet : 96 (Ninety six)

Process of Printing : Litho Offset

Printers : Pakistan Security Printing Corporation

About : 

• Cancer is a quiet killer. Its victims are both men and animals. It can afflict any organ or tissue of the body and it is known for its abnormal and apparently unrestricted growth of body cells which form themselves in the shape of tumors that attack and destroy nearby tissue. Some of these tumors grow slowly and some rapidly. It is a disease which is not restricted to any race or climate.
• Researches have been going on for several decades to gain insight into the cause of the several kinds of cancer, which could eventually lead to cure. The momentum of these researches has increased appreciably during the recent past. It has been a relentless effort engaging some of the world’s leading brains and huge sums of money are being spent to keep the good work going.
• Much of this research work has been benefitting mankind from the better knowledge and techniques acquired in the fight against cancer. An increasing number of patients suffering from cancer and other malignant diseases are being treated at Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission‘s (PAEC) five Nuclear Medical Centres in the country at Karachi, Jamshoro, Multan, Lahore and Peshawar. A sixth one completed at Larkana will be functioning shortly. In the absence of any definite cure, the only alternative to control and prevent cancer is “caution and prevention”. The following seven steps to health are suggested by specialists for the prevention and early detection of cancer.
  • 1. Have a regular medical and dental check up.
  • 2. Watch for any change in your normal state of health.
  • 3. Find out about any lump or sore that does not heal.
  • 4. Protect yourself against too much sunlight.
  • 5. Do not smoke.
  • 6. Have a pap test.
  • 7. Do a monthly breast self-examination.
• Cancer Association of Pakistan has also recently been established under the aegis of Hamdard National Foundation, Pakistan to create greater awareness about cancer and is doing appreciable work in this respect.
• Issued by: The Director General, Pakistan Post Office, Karachi.

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Issued by Japan

Issued on Sep 14, 1977

Type : Stamp, Postal Used

Colour : Multicolour

Denomination : 50 yen

Size of impression : 35.5 mm x 25 mm

Stamp quantity : 30,000,000

About : 

• A 50 yen postage stamp featuring “Shimaakane” as the 17^th in the Nature Conservation Series of postage stamps has been issued.
• “Shimaakane” belongs to Libellulidae of Odonata and is a species of the “Akane” dragonflies. Its body measures about 40 mm and the hind wings about 30 mm. It is slender and medium in size.
• The body is black, in front of the head yellow and the upper forehead indigo and shiny. The chest is black and has irregular yellow dots. The abdomen is slender, being in dark red color or orange and black colors. The wings are narrow in width and transparent. The patterns along the edges are blackish brown.
• Being a species unique to the Ogasawara Islands. “Shimaakane” breed in the islands of Chichijima, Hahajima and Mukaijima in May to August.
• “Shimaakane” was designated as a natural monument on April 12, 1969, as there was danger that it would cease to exist with the development of the islands.

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Issued by Japan

Issued on Aug 15, 1977

Type : Stamp, Postal Used

Colour : Multicolour

Denomination : 50 yen

Size of impression : 35.5 mm x 25 mm

About : 

• As the 16^th of the Nature Conservation Series, a ¥50 postage stamp has been issued having for its subject “Himeharuzemi” (Euterpnosia chibensis).
• Euterpnosia chibensis is a kind of spring cicada belonging to the Cicadae of the hemipterous family. Its body is about three centimeters long, and the length between the head and the end of wings is about 3.5 centimeters. The greeny body has black and light brown spots. The wings are transparent.
• The spring cicada lives only in Japan, but euterpnosia chibensis’ main habitat is in southern regions. In Japan it lives in Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu and Okinawa. It is often seen staying on such trees as chinquapin and oak. When many of euterpnosia chibensis sing in unison, the doing becomes a high sound, and the species is called in some areas “ozemi” (large cicada).
• Nou Town in Niigata Prefecture is known as the habitat of the Nou himeharuzemi, Kasama City in Ibaraki Prefecture is the habitat of the Kataniwa himeharuzemi and Mobara City, Chiba Prefecture is the habitat of the Tsurueda himeharuzemi. These three areas are designated as natural monuments. The himeharuzemi of respective species appear in the above areas some time between late in June and the middle of July.

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Issued by Japan

Issued on Jul 22, 1977

Type : Stamp, Postal Used

Colour : Multicolour

Denomination : 50 yen

Size of impression : 25 mm x 35.5 mm

About : 

• In the 15^th of the Nature Conservation Series of postage stamps, a 50 yen stamp which shows a species of a firefly, Luciola cruciata, known as “Genjibotaru” in Japanese will be issued.
• “Hotaru” (firefly) belongs to the family Lampyridae of the Coleoptera. It lives in various places in mainland Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu and is a species seen only in Japan.
• It has a black body with a length of 12-18 millimeters. The firefly has the red chest with a black cross on it. It is the largest species in Japan. The larvae live in the bed of clean rivers and eat marsh snails and other species of fresh water snails. After the 10 month period as larva, the firefly becomes a chrysalis in early May, though the time differs by the year and areas, and becomes an adult some time between the middle of May and the middle of June. But its adulthood period is short.
• In Nagaoka, Santo Town, Shiga Prefecture, and eight other places, the firefly has been designated as a natural monument (a special natural monument in Nagaoka).

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Issued by Pakistan

Issued on Apr 7, 1962

Issued for : Malaria eradication commemoratives set consisting of two postage stamps of 10 and 13 Paisa values is being issued on the 7^th April, 1962, the date fixed by the World Health Organization in connection with their global programme for the eradication of malaria. These stamps will be on sale at all the post offices in Pakistan, the Karachi Philatelic Bureau and the Philatelic Counters at Lahore, Rawalpindi, Dacca and Chittagong.

Design : The mosquito, carrying malarial germs, in the attacking position forms the motif of 10-Paisa and the annihilated mosquito, with a sword blade, bearing the words ‘MALARIA ERADICATION’, pierced through its body forms the motif of 13-Paisa postage stamp. On the right hand side of both of these postage stamps appears the common emblem designed by the World Health Organization and the word ‘Pakistan’ in English, Urdu and Bengali.

Type : Stamps, Postal Used

Denominations : 10 & 13 Paisa

Colours :
10 Paisa : Red, Bright Yellow and Black
13 Paisa : Red, Pale Yellow and Black

Size of Stamps : 42 x 27 mm

Size of Prints : 39 x 24 mm

Perforation : 14 x 14 (C)

Quantity Printed :
10 Paisa : 5,00,000 pieces
13 Paisa : 7,00,000 pieces

Number of Stamps in each sheet : 100

Process of Printing : Photogravure

Name of Printers : Messrs Thomas De La Rue and Company Ltd., London

About : 

• Malaria continues to be a constant threat all over the world. Quite apart from the large number of all age-groups that it kills, it aims several millions for long periods and exposes hundreds of thousands who are chronically debilitated to other deadly infections. Pakistan, along with other countries of the world has joined the world-wide programme for eradication of this one of the most dreaded diseases.
• The national effort to root out the ancient “killer” is being waged in a phased programme extending over a period of fourteen years and is estimated to cost Rs. 52 crores. The Government has constituted for the purpose an autonomous Malaria Eradication Board presided over by the Minister for Health, Labour and Social Welfare. When it is considered that malaria accounts for the loss of crores of rupees annually in terms of man-hours wasted and the cost of medical treatment – let alone the misery and sufferings of millions – the proposed expenditure on the anti-malaria plan is not only a desirable utilization of public resources for the rescue of humanity but also a productive investment.
• With the compliments of The Director-General, Pakistan Post Office, Karachi.

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Issued by India

Issued on Apr 7, 1962

Issued for : The Posts and Telegraphs Department joins the campaign to create a greater awareness of the problem by issuing a special postage stamp on April 7, 1962. The stamp is being issued in response to an appeal by the World Health Organization to various countries and carries the slogan “The World United Against Malaria“. April 7 has been chosen by the Indian Posts and Telegraphs Department for the issue of the stamp as this day happens to be the World Health Day. The design carries in the upper part the Globe as a symbol of worldwide co-operation. The lower part of the stamp shows the anopheline vector of malaria attacked by the Aesculapean staff.

Designed by : Staff artist of the India Security Press

Type : Stamp, Mint condition

Colour :
Tint – Buff
Body – Maroon

Denomination : 15 nP

Size : 3.91 cms. x 2.90 cms.

Perforation : 13

Watermark : All over multiple ‘Lion Capital of Asoka‘

Quantity Printed : 3.5 million

Set : 35 stamps per issue sheet

Printing process : Photogravure

Printed at : India Security Press, Nasik Road

About : 

• Malaria continues to be the world’s greatest single cause of disablement and the world’s costliest disease. A million people die of malaria every year even now.
• Malaria is present in 140 countries and territories inhabited by over 1,000 million people.
• There can be little doubt that the eradication of malaria is essential to mankind’s progress, economic, social and cultural.
• To quote Dr. M.G. Candau, Director General of World Health Organization, “in man’s endless struggle for a healthier life, to free the world from the ancient scourge of malaria will be a great victory. But it is not the health aspect alone which makes a worldwide eradication campaign worth the effort and sacrifice. The disease has striking repercussions on economic production and social progress in under-developed countries. Today….the fight against malaria is an inherent part of the social and economic action of the United Nations and its specialized agencies“.
• Today eradication of malaria is within mankind’s reach. In fact, eradication has been achieved already in some areas and has stood the test of time. A worldwide campaign has been launched by the World Health Organisation. Man today possesses the necessary knowledge and the necessary experience to wipe out malaria. The programme has already yielded results and the number of people that fell ill from malaria every year has dropped from 250 million in 1955 to 140 million. According to available statistics, out of a total population of 1,381 million people who were exposed to the risk of malaria 305 million in 39 countries now live in areas free of this disease. The number of countries that have succeeded in banishing malaria is increasing year by year. In 1961 the greatest venture in public health the world has ever seen was going forward in 67 countries.
• India too is engaged on a country-wide campaign to eradicate this disease and to free its 400 million people from the threat of malaria.
• The ravages caused by malaria in India are too well-known. An estimate of 1952 indicated that 75 to 80 million people suffered from this disease every year and at least 0.8 to 1 million people died as a direct result of malaria and another 1 to 1.5 million indirectly. Many millions who had repeated attacks were debilitated for long periods. Apart from the intense human sufferings, the economic repercussions were serious.
• Available records show that the proportionate case rate which was 10.8 per cent, in 1953 had been lowered to 0.6 per cent, by September 1961.
• Prior to the Second World War, malaria control in India was confined mainly to semi-urban areas and the activity was directed towards application of larvicidal agents such as oil or paris-green. In the absence of definite knowledge for economic control of malaria in rural areas a nation-wide malaria control programme was only a dream. Since the war, however, the position has entirely changed. Several pilot projects were initiated and by 1952 about 30 million people had been protected.
• In the light of the success of pilot projects, the Government of India launched the National Malaria Control Programme in 1953.
• The programme was run for a period of 5 years in a phased manner with the object of affording protection to 200 million people living in highly malarious areas. By the end of this 5-year period a total population of 163 million people had received full protection and 30 million partial protection.
• Meanwhile large scale malaria control operations in other countries brought out several important factors. There was, on the one hand the possibility of development of resistance in the vectors against the insecticides in use against them, and, on the other, the realization that eradication could be achieved and at a comparatively lesser cost. These factors paved the way towards launching of a nationwide malaria eradication campaign. The programme, which was launched from 1958, was to be assisted by the United States Technical Cooperation Mission and the World Health Organization.
• The activities under the programme were to intensify spray operations in every roofed structure in the country for a period of 3 to 5 years and in some areas for an even longer period. Surveillance operations comprising of detection of cases and other scientific investigations were to commence from the third year of the programme.
• By the end of the first two years, all the units had been set up and operations had commenced. Machinery had been established for (i) spraying every house in rural or semi-urban areas with insecticide, (ii) peripheral belt spray in every large urban area, (iii) for every house to be visited twice a month in search of cases of fever as it was only through the systematic examination of blood smears that it is possible to hunt down every single case of malaria; (iv) for taking similar steps in all medical institutions and hospitals with the cooperation of the medical profession as a whole; (v) for searching out every positive case and to institute radical treatment and (vi) for conducting epidemiological investigations and taking appropriate measures.
• The programme is already half-way through and has entered from this year the consolidation phase in respect of nearly one-third of the total number of units from where spraying would be withdrawn. A programme of such gigantic magnitude, no doubt, faces immense problems, administrative, technical and operational.
• The Government of India and the State Governments have given the programme the highest priority and have allocated nearly one-fifth of the nation’s public health budget for the implementation of this task and are attempting to stamp out the disease once for all and thus contribute towards the global malaria eradication.

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Issued by Nepal

Issued on Apr 7, 1962

Type : Stamps, Postal Used

Denomination : 12 Paisa and 1 Rupee

Colour :
12 p – blue & light blue
1 r – magenta & orange

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