Every few years Åland Post pleasantly surprises us with the release of a ‘special’ variable value stamp series, with an evocative theme, that is sometimes difficult to classify … Let us recall, for example, the Frama series issued between 1997 and 1999, depicting figureheads on the prows of sailing ships, or the series issued between 2015 and 2017, in this case depicting images of objects found on beaches … basically rubbish … (see articles, published in VARIABLE 36, 40 & 44). The 2024 series is not just simply illustrating butterflies of the archipelago, which would be fairly ‘straight forward’ but the life cycle of butterflies i.e. the process of metamorphosis.
The four designs that make up the series are by the Finnish designer Sofia Pusa. These are dedicated to the large white (Pieris brassicae), the tortoiseshell (Aglais urticae), the silver-washed fritillary (Argynnis paphia), and the green hairstreak (Callophrys rubi). Each design shows the butterfly in the four stages of its metamorphosis, as an egg, caterpillar (or larva), chrysalis (or pupa) and adult.