Detail

Jean-Henri Fabre (1823–1915), a 19th-century French entomologist, is the author of Fabre’s Book of Insects, a popular book that many must have read at least once in their childhood. As an autodidact with a knack for keen observations and recording what he saw from a young age, Fabre dedicated his whole life to studying insects, considered by many to be the father of modern entomology. This year marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of educator and naturalist Jean-Henri Fabre. br br Born on December 22, 1823 into a farming family in the countryside of Saint-Léons in Aveyron, France, the young curiosity-filled Fabre loved looking at insects and enjoying the nature in his village. Delving into the field of entomology in earnest in 1854, he realized observing specific natural ecology was more crucial than collecting specimens. Establishing a laboratory in the countryside in his mid-50s, Fabre wrote Insect Life: Souvenirs of a Naturalist from 1879 to 1907. Fabre particularly favored the dung beetle and studied its various species in depth. According to the book, which contains interesting stories of various insect species, dung beetles (Scarabaeus sacer) roll dung balls heavier than their weight and make them into nutritional to the shape of a gourd bottle ball cakes for the hatched larvae. br br Dung beetles (Gymnopleurus mopsus), also called “nature’s cleaners,” have been presumed to be extinct in South Korea, given the absence of any official observation records since the 1960s. Since 2014, the Ministry of Environment has been working on introducing the Mongolian population, which is genetically the same species as the native Korean population, to promote research on captive propagation and its adaptability in the wild. As a result of research by the National Institute of Ecology, 200 individuals were successfully bred, and were released into the Sinduri Coastal Sand Dune in Taean-gun, Chungcheongnam-do Province last September, returning them to their home in nature. br br Issued as a forever postage stamp, this commemorative stamp depicts Fabre closely observing the dung beetle. We hope this stamp serves as an opportunity for you to appreciate Fabre’s great work in entomology, what was once a mysterious field of study. br