Brian Patrick, a former Trustee of the Rod Donald Trust, has been busy working alongside NZ Post to create a beautiful six stamp collectors pack of postage stamps that display some of the Daphne Moth varieties native to New Zealand.
From the coast to the highest mountains, and from Stewart Island in the south to the Far North, Aotearoa New Zealand is home to 35 recognised species of Daphne moth in the genus Notoreas, all with discrete distributions within New Zealand.
Brian, who works as a Senior Ecologist and Entomologist with Wildland Consultants Ltd, shares that “The six species I chose for the issue from the 35 species in the genus I recognise, was very strategic, with two of them being species Robert Hoare and I described in 2010, and three of them being threatened species. Four are coastal species with small but strategic distributions around the NZ coastline in both North and South Islands, and two are alpine species. The local undescribed species on Kaitorete Spit is included too.”
We are delighted with the local connection to the Kaitorete Spit species, and this is the one on the $4 stamp with the purple background in the lower right corner of the photo.
The stamp set will be released on 5th February and you can view the NZ Post website link HERE
