Dear Readers, I don’t usually succumb to the blandishments of the Royal Mail, but honestly, who could resist these stamps? They’re by one of my very favourite natural history illustrators, Richard Lewington. You might know Lewington through his illustrations for ‘Guide to Garden Wildlife‘….

or the Pocket Guide to Bumblebees….

or the Field Guide to Moths…

How on earth is he so prolific? His illustrations in the Moths book show the smallest gradation of difference between the species. Such precision! And the illustrations manage to be both accurate and beautiful, a true reflection of each species. And in the case of the moths, the illustrations are also life-sized.

But back to the spider stamps. I’ve seen and written about several of these species: the Candy-striped Spider was spotted on the Hemp Agrimony a few years ago…

The Zebra Jumping Spider is a regular favourite….

I did a post about the Cucumber Spider back in 2018…

And I wrote about the Nursery Web spiders that I found in Barnwood a few years ago.

How I would love to see some of the others, though! In particular the Wasp Spider, who is advancing north as climate change makes the environment more suitable for it. And what a spectacular arachnid it is! Its web contains a zigzag band of silk, which I think makes it unique in the UK, and it lives mainly on grasshoppers.

And I wouldn’t mind seeing a Ladybird Spider either – it’s the sole member of the Velvet Spider family, and was thought to be extinct until it was rediscovered in 2002. It’s extremely rare, and fully protected in law, so I would be very lucky to see one, though as it does mainly live in a single site in Dorset at least I am sometimes in the right part of the country.

So, what a delight these stamps are! If you’re a spider lover, you can treat yourself to a set here, And if you fancy buying a Richard Lewington print or even an original, there are some for sale here. Well, Christmas is coming, unbelievable as it seems…..