Category: Malawi

The Elegant Grasshopper (Zonocerus elegans) is a slow-moving, colourful grasshopper found throughout most of Malawi. Only 5% of adults have wings and emits juices that have an offensive smell. It is considered a pest throughout Southern Africa and is destructive to a number of agricultural industries. Stamps & Postal Products…

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The 2d image was taken from a brochure inscribed “North Nyasa Zebu bull at the Department’s Livestock Improvement Centre at Mbawa in the Northern Province”  and depicts the breed Bos indicus. The picture was reversed for the stamp design. The colouring was provided by a Kodachrome image of two bulls and…

View More Malawi Philately: 1964 Definitive Series – 2d Zebu Bull

Bidens pinnatipartita grows primarily in the seasonally dry tropical biome. It is found in wooded tall grassland near rocky outcrops. Stamps & Postal Products 1968 Wildflowers of Malawi – 3s Bidens pinnatipartita References Flora of Zambia

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The Dwarf Red Hibiscua (Hibiscus rhodanthus) is a small plant with bright red flowers, herbaceous in the aboveground parts and permanently woody in the underground rootstock. It is found in in open woodland and grassland. Stamps & Postal Products 1968 Wildflowers of Malawi – 1/6d Hibiscus Rhodanthus References Flora of…

View More Malawi Philately: Dwarf Red Hibiscus (Hibiscus rhodanthus)

Borreria dibrachiata (also known as the winged forget-me not) is common in Mashonaland during the summer months. The striking feature of this plant is a pair of large leaf-like, pointed bracts, just below the flower head. The flowers themselves are mauve or blue, about ½ inch long, they are tubular,…

View More Malawi Philately: Winged Forget-Me-Not (Borreria dibrachiata)

Giant Milkwood (Calotropis procera) is a species of flowering plant in the family Apocynaceae that is native to North Africa, Pakistan, tropical Africa, Western Asia, South Asia and Indochina. It typically grows to a height of 6 feet in sunny and partly shaded habitats, including overgrazed pastures, rangeland, roadsides, river…

View More Malawi Philately: Giant Milkweed (Calotropis procera)

The scrapermouth mbuna (Labeotropheus trewavasae) is a species of cichlid endemic to Lake Malawi where it prefers areas with rocky substrates. Its specific name honours the British ichthyologist Ethelwynn Trewavas (1900-1993) of the British Museum (Natural History).   References Malawi Cichlids Wikipedia: Scrapermouth mbuna

View More Malawi Philately: Scrapermouth Mbuna (Labeotropheus trewavasae)

Pseudotropheus auratus, the auratus cichlid, is a freshwater fish of the cichlid family. It is also known as golden mbuna and Malawi golden cichlid. It is endemic to the southern region of Lake Malawi, particularly from Jalo Reef southward along the entire western coast down to Crocodile Rocks. References Wikipedia:Melanochromis auratus 

View More Malawi Philately: Auratus Cichlid (Pseudotropheus auratas)

When a British Protectorate was declared over the region in 1891, three gun boats were brought out, two for duty on the lake and one, the “Dove” to patrol the Upper Shire. The “Dove” was a side-paddle steamer, built by Yarrow & Co, and began operating in 1893. After 1900…

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Cyrestis camillus, the African map butterfly, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It is found in Africa, from Sierra Leone to Ethiopia and Tanzania and from Kenya to Natal.   References Wikipedia: Cyrestis camillus  

View More Malawi Philately: African Map Butterfly (Cryestis camillus sublineatus)