Colorado’s state insect featured on stamp

The shimmering purple of the Colorado hairstreak butterfly is being commemorated by the U.S. Postal Service as the eighth stamp in the non-machineable butterfly stamp series.

These colorful square non-machineable surcharge stamps were developed in collaboration with the greeting card industry and will be issued in panes of 20 for use on irregular-size envelopes, such as square greeting cards, invitations or announcements.

The words “NON-MACHINEABLE SURCHARGE” on the stamp indicate its usage value. The stamp is being issued at the current rate of 75 cents and, like a Forever stamp, this stamp will always be valid for the class of mail printed on it.

Colorado’s state insect, the vibrant Colorado hairstreak, lives among oak trees in that state and the rest of the Four Corners states — Arizona, New Mexico and Utah — as well as eastern Nevada, southern Wyoming and northern Mexico.

Colorado hairstreak caterpillars hatch in the spring from eggs laid the previous autumn. Plump and green with white fuzz, they feed on the tender new leaves of their host plant, the Gambel oak (Quercus gambelii), also known as the scrub oak.

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