This little hunt for butterflies in West Africa requires neither net nor mosquito repellent, so forget your pith helmet and take a relaxing look at the beautiful and exotic stamp issues of Gabon.
Please note that all the stamps shown are quite inexpensive and can be afforded on a budget.
Gabon is a republic in West Africa with Cameroon to the north and Zaire to the south and east. It has a tropical climate, which is hot and humid and much tropical rainforest. It is a place where many butterfly species are to be found.
On May 26 1971 Gabon issued a set of four stamps featuring butterflies and moths Photo (Perf. 13):
5f. Charaxes smaragdalis
10f. Euxanthe crossleyi
15f. Epiphora rectifascia
25f. Imbrasia bouveri
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On 23 February 1973 there was a set of six stamps featuring butterflies Litho (Perf 13):
10f.Charaxes candiope
15f. Asterope pechueli (Eunica pechueli)
20f. Cyrestis Camillus
30f. Charaxes castor
40f. Charaxes ameliae
50f. Pseudacraea boisduvali
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On July 4 1978 a set of five Postage Due stamps featuring butterflies was issued. They are a nice departure from the rather conservative and official-looking stamps one comes to expect from Postage Dues. They are Litho. (Perf. 13):
5f. Charaxes candiope
10f. Charaxes ameliae
25f. Charaxes camillus
50f. Charaxes castor
100f. Pseudacraea boisduvali
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On September 10 1981 four attractive butterfly stamps were issued Litho (Perf 14 ½ X14):
75f. Hypolimnas salmacis
100f. Euphaedra themis
150f. Amauris niavius
250f. Cymothoe lucasi
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On September 18 1986 a butterfly and a Moth stamp Litho (Perf. 15X14) issued:
150f. Papilio machaon (Machaeon)
290f. Chrysiridia ripheus (Urania)
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On June 10 1992 two butterfly stamps were issued (Perf. 15X14):
100f. Graphium policenes
715f. Acraea regina
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We hope you enjoyed looking at these lovely stamps and are perhaps inspired to collect some more butterfly stamps from other countries.
If you are interested in thematic/topical stamps, may I suggest you consider joining the American Topical Association?
Lovely iomages! I hope you publish more of these “delights”.
Dear Lauren,
I have my pith helmet and butterfly net on the ready!
We hope to publish many more butterfly/ moth and insect articles in the near future.
Should any of our readers have a theme/topic they would like to share with other collectors, don’t hesitate to contact us.
We would love to hear from you!
This article has been very popular. I have discovered an interesting site on butterfly conservation. Our readers might like visit: http://www.butterfly-conservation.org/