Taxonomy at Face Value: An assessment of entomological postage stamps as effective teaching aids for science educators

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Abstract

Entomological postage stamps are unique means of communication of science with the public and have been suggested as effective teaching tools in primary and secondary education. A survey of the taxonomic and other information contained on insect- and arachnid-themed stamps issued globally from 1891 to 2020 reveals that 30% of these stamps contain various errors and are scientifically unreliable. In addition, representations of insects are highly biased towards only two orders (Lepidoptera and Odonata), while other mega-diverse orders (e.g. Coleoptera, Diptera, Hymenoptera) are poorly represented or not represented at all. This phenomenon can negatively affect public perception of priorities in biodiversity and conservation. Standardization of taxonomic information on entomological stamps and implementation of rigorous quality control measures are encouraged to assure dissemination of accurate scientific information.

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Most cited references 23

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Ecological Diversity and Its Measurement

Anne Magurran (1988)

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How Many Species of Insects and Other Terrestrial Arthropods Are There on Earth?

Nigel E. Stork (2018)

In the last decade, new methods of estimating global species richness have been developed and existing ones improved through the use of more appropriate statistical tools and new data. Taking the mean of most of these new estimates indicates that globally there are approximately 1.5 million, 5.5 million, and 7 million species of beetles, insects, and terrestrial arthropods, respectively. Previous estimates of 30 million species or more based on the host specificity of insects to plants now seem extremely unlikely. With 1 million insect species named, this suggests that 80% remain to be discovered and that a greater focus should be placed on less-studied taxa such as many families of Coleoptera, Diptera, and Hymenoptera and on poorly sampled parts of the world. DNA tools have revealed many new species in taxonomically intractable groups, but unbiased studies of previously well-researched insect faunas indicate that 1-2% of species may be truly cryptic.