# 4736 - 2013 66c Spicebush Swallowtail Butterfly
2013 66¢ Spicebush Swallowtail Butterfly
Butterfly Series
When the young larva hatches, it eats part of the leaf and exudes silk. This causes the leaf to fold over the larva, creating a shelter. The young larva is generally a brownish color, similar to bird droppings – its first stage of mimicry to ward off predators. When the larva grows older, it turns a yellow-green color and has two large black spots with white dots on its head – resembling a snake. It also has a red y-shaped organ it exposes when attacked, that mimics a snake’s tongue.
The swallowtail’s mimicry continues as an adult, as it resembles a pipevine swallowtail, which is a foul-tasting butterfly many predators know to avoid. The spicebush swallowtail flies close to the ground, unlike most butterflies. It also flutters its wings while it feeds, while other species stop to feed. These traits help give a unique identity to a species that spends much of its life mimicking other creatures.
Butterfly Series
In late 2009, the USPS unveiled the first butterfly stamp for greeting card envelopes that required additional postage (an extra 20¢) than the standard one-ounce rate covered. This would apply to envelopes that couldn’t be sorted on the USPS’s automated equipment, otherwise known as “nonmachinable.”
The California dogface butterfly stamp was initially announced in 2016 and expected for a 2017 release. However, the USPS said that they had designed the stamp, but wouldn’t produce it until supplies of existing butterfly stamps were nearly depleted. So that stamp wasn’t issued until 2019.
Click here to view lots more US and worldwide butterfly stamps.
2013 66¢ Spicebush Swallowtail Butterfly
Butterfly Series
When the young larva hatches, it eats part of the leaf and exudes silk. This causes the leaf to fold over the larva, creating a shelter. The young larva is generally a brownish color, similar to bird droppings – its first stage of mimicry to ward off predators. When the larva grows older, it turns a yellow-green color and has two large black spots with white dots on its head – resembling a snake. It also has a red y-shaped organ it exposes when attacked, that mimics a snake’s tongue.
The swallowtail’s mimicry continues as an adult, as it resembles a pipevine swallowtail, which is a foul-tasting butterfly many predators know to avoid. The spicebush swallowtail flies close to the ground, unlike most butterflies. It also flutters its wings while it feeds, while other species stop to feed. These traits help give a unique identity to a species that spends much of its life mimicking other creatures.
Butterfly Series
In late 2009, the USPS unveiled the first butterfly stamp for greeting card envelopes that required additional postage (an extra 20¢) than the standard one-ounce rate covered. This would apply to envelopes that couldn’t be sorted on the USPS’s automated equipment, otherwise known as “nonmachinable.”
The California dogface butterfly stamp was initially announced in 2016 and expected for a 2017 release. However, the USPS said that they had designed the stamp, but wouldn’t produce it until supplies of existing butterfly stamps were nearly depleted. So that stamp wasn’t issued until 2019.
Click here to view lots more US and worldwide butterfly stamps.