A pond is an inland body of standing water, either natural or man-made, which is smaller than a lake. It undergoes marked changes as time passes, and the most obvious changes that one will notice is that one form of plant follows or succeeds another, and the different life forms that make the pond a lively and busy place. There are plenty of opportunities for exciting discoveries at a pond, and this set of Definitives stamps, ($1.10, $2, $5, $10) with its intricate designs, shows some commonly found life forms at a pond.

Tilapia is the common name for nearly a hundred species of Cichlid fish from the tilapiine cichlid tribe. Featured in this Definitive series is the Common Tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus).

Pond Wolf Spiders (Pardosa pseudoannulata) are members of the family Lycosidae, and are robust and agile hunters, and have good eyesight. They live mostly solitary lives and hunt alone. Wolf spiders are unique in carrying their eggs along with them in a round silken globe, or egg sac, which they attach to the spinnerets at the end of their abdomen.

Pond or Water Skaters are a group of semiaquatic bugs of Order Hemiptera, in the family Gerridae. It live on the surface of ponds, slow streams, marshes, and other quiet waters. There they hunt for insects and other small invertebrates on top of or directly below surface using their strong forelegs that end with claws.

Water Stick Insect and Water Scorpion are generally slender predatory members of the family Nepidae, in genus Ranatra. Their front legs are strong and are used to grasp prey. They breathe through a pair of long breathing pipes extending from their abdomens. They eat tadpoles, small fish and other insects, which they pierce with their beak and inject saliva that both sedates and begins to digest their prey. Both are swimmers with legs and not oars.