DENVER — Colorado's state insect is receiving national recognition with the dedication of its own stamp.
The Colorado hairstreak butterfly is now featured by the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) on a new stamp. The stamp was dedicated during a virtual ceremony Tuesday.
“The Colorado hairstreak butterfly is not only a beautiful creature, it is the state insect for Colorado,” said William D. Zollars, a member of the U.S. Postal Service Board of Governors. “This stamp is the eighth in the butterfly series, developed in partnership with the greeting card industry specifically for oversize or square envelopes and other mail of nonstandard shapes and sizes.”
> Above video: Monarch butterflies of the Butterfly Pavilion.
The Colorado hairstreak is featured as a 75 cents “Non-Machineable Surcharge" stamp. The stamp can be purchased as a pane of 20 stamps for $15.
USPS said the stamp will always be valid for the rate printed on it.
The stamp was created digitally by artist Tom Engeman using images of preserved butterflies as a starting point.
According to USPS, the shining, shimmering Colorado hairstreak butterfly begins life as a fuzzy green caterpillar which feeds on its host plant, the Gambel or “shrub” oak, in Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and much of the Southwest.
After metamorphosis, the Colorado hairstreak emerges from its cocoon in late spring or summer, mates and lays eggs in autumn, and throughout all, may live in its entire lifespan within a few yards of where it hatched.
Males and females are similarly colored purple.
The new stamp is now being sold at post office locations nationwide and online at usps.com or by calling 800-782-6724.
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