Nature's letters and numbers

Our Talpids and the Talpids' own Talpids were introduced to their letters and numbers using this remarkable poster, the work of the Norwegian Kjell Sandved.

Kjell has spent much of his life travelling the world, discovering 'letters' and numerals in nature, for example on the wings of butterflies. Back in 1960, he came to the US to conduct research on animal behaviour at the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History.

One day, hidden away on a dusty shelf, Kjell found, inside an old cigar box, a butterfly that had a perfect letter 'F' on its wing. He was so impressed with the perfection of the way the letter appeared that he wondered if he could find other letters of the alphabet as part of the pattern on the wings of other butterflies. This became an all consuming passion, and he has travelled the world, photographing butterflies, and creating this 'Butterfly Alphabet'.

He has now created a small business, selling posters of these images, and he has also created other alphabets consisting entirely of images he has found in nature. Visit Kjell Sandved and his Butterfly Alphabet.