FAUNA OF HUNGARY IV - 2010 YEAR OF BIODIVERSITY
Date of issue: 7 May 2010
Bi
Biodiversity
means the abundant variety of life on earth, which is the result of
natural processes formed by evolution over several billion years. The
events of the year seek to draw attention to the pollution of the
environment destroying species and the need for sustainable development.
The
bearded iris is a herbaceous perennial and a specially protected
species of plant in Hungary. It is found in dry meadows, on rocky grassy
slopes and occasionally in scrubby flatland. It grows 10 to 30 cm tall.
Its leaves gradually widen, arching outwards. The surface of its
straight, cylindrical stem is smooth and green. Its flowers blooming in
April and May are violet blue or purplish red. The European souslik is
a ground squirrel of a genus belonging to the Marmotini sub-family.
There are two species in Europe, the European souslik and the spotted
souslik. It is a protected animal in Hungary. It eats plants, mainly
grasses and seeds but it also robs birds’ nests. It lives in colonies
and hibernates. The blue tit is a tiny, well-known and popular bird of
the tit family in the passerine order. It is essentially a European
bird. It gets its name from its blue crown, wings and outer tail.
Although it is quite common in the Carpathian Basin, it is protected in
Hungary. The golden egg bug usually occurs in Mediterranean countries.
It was only discovered in Hungary a few years ago. Its appearance makes
it one of the most bizarre species of bug as it is covered in huge
spikes. Its unusual characteristic is that when danger threatens its
whole body starts to shake, resembling a piece of dried leaf fluttering
in the wind. It is a protected insect. The Hungarian meadow viper only
occurs in Hungary and is an extremely rare poisonous snake sub-species,
the most endangered species in the Carpathian Basin. It is specially
protected. It used to be found from Austria to Bulgaria but today it
only occurs in Hungary. The base colour of the sub-species is greyish or
yellowy brown with a dark brown zigzag pattern running along its back.
(Source: hu.wikipedia.org; Tamás Vásárhelyi’s description)In
the design of the selvage area of the numbered souvenir sheet and the
stamp there is a graphic composition evoking the immense variety of
flora and fauna. The main motif is the bearded iris. In the designs of
the set in order of ascending value the European souslik, the golden egg
bug, the blue tit and the Hungarian meadow viper are shown featuring
motifs referring to their natural habitat and their environment in the
background. The graphic composition of the first day cover is decorated
with butterflies. An emblematic design referring to biodiversity is
featured in the special postmark.
SO
Order code: Souvenir: 2010150030011 – 2010150060012 (souvenir FDC) Set: 2010140050411 – 2010140060012 (set FDC)
Date of issue: 7 May 2010
Printed by Pénzjegynyomda
Designed by Kálmán Székely
The
imperforated size of the souvenir sheet is 90 x 70 mm and the
perforated size of the stamp in it and the denominations of the set is
40 x 30 mm. There are 50 stamps in each sheet.
120,000 copies of the souvenir sheet and 500,000 copies of the set, the final denomination of which is HUF 215, will be issued.
