Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
During the National Stamp Collecting Month in 1999 the USPS issued this colorful sheet featuring 16 insects and four spiders. The species of insects and spiders on the stamps were chosen because of their educational value and interest to children. The species represent the wide range of colors, lifestyles, and behaviors exhibited by these amazing creatures. On the back of each stamp is a description of the bug on the front. There are 200 million insects for every single person living on the Earth today - and that figure doesn't include the 30,000 known species of spiders. Insects have six legs, three-sectioned bodies, and most have wings and antennae. Scientists discover 7,000 to 10,000 new kinds of insects each year. Insects are fascinating. Some can taste with their feet - others can smell with their antennae. In fact, experts believe there are at least one million to ten-million insects yet to be discovered. Spiders are arachnids. All spiders have eight legs, two-sectioned bodies, and fangs. They spin silk (although not all make webs), and most have poison glands. Bugs (both insects and spiders) thrive in nearly every habitat on the planet: humid tropical jungles, frigid mountain tops, deserts, and caves. The only place an abundance of insects cannot be found is the water. However, there are spiders that live underwater for most of their lives.
When exposed to shortwave ultraviolet light, the creatures on the Insects and Spiders stamps take on an eerie and unique glow because of the cut-to-shape phosphorescent tagging used.
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