Abnormal Chicken Eggs

If I say that I'm the only person in my locality, who take pictures of each and every creature, irrespective of whether small or big, living or non-living, then it will not be wrong. The response of older people is not encouraging, however kids take great interest in my hobby. Therefore, whenever they find some thing interesting, like a snail shell, a caterpillar, a spider or a flower they bring it to me. Below are the pictures of some abnormal eggs laid by our neighbors hen. Their kids brought them to me for possible photography and I not only took pictures of the eggs, but also decided to share them with you. The smallest of these eggs is about 23 mm long (3rd pic) and the largest is 46 mm long (2nd pic). You can see these eggs in comparison with normal egg in last picture.

Abnormal Chicken Eggs Pictures

Normal vs Abnormal Eggs

Dahlia Flowers

Dahlia is a genus of tuberous-rooted, perennial plants in the family Asteraceae, subfamily Asteroideae, native of Mexico and Central America. There are about 36 species of dahlia.

Dahlia Flowers Pictures

Dahlia Plant and Flower

Ladybug Life Cycle

Ladybug Life Cycle

Ladybug Life Cycle Diagram

Like Butterflies the Ladybugs life cycle also consists of four stages i.e. eggs, larva, pupa, and ladybug. Here are some pictures that show the different stages of a ladybug life cycle.

Egg Stage

Female ladybugs lay their eggs on the underside of leaves. The eggs are laid in cluster of 10 to 15 eggs. A female ladybug will lay more than 1000 eggs in her lifetime. They don't have any specific host plant, but lay eggs on plant where the larvae food, mites or aphids exist. The eggs hatch in about 3-7 days depending on species and temperature.

Ladybug Eggs

Ladybug Eggs

Ladybug Eggs

Larvae Stage

When the eggs hatch, the eggs shell become the first food of the larvae. After that, they will look for tiny mites or aphids. Newborn larvae look like tiny alligators with small spikes. After a few days, the larvae will be large enough to begin to molt (shed their skin). The larva molt several times (5-7) before pupation. The larva stage last for about 10-14 day. Below are the pictures of larvae of different types of ladybugs.

Ladybug Larva

Ladybug Larva

Ladybug Larva

Pupa Stage

On maturity, the larvae attaches itself to a leaf or stem.. The larval skin then splits down the back, exposing the pupa. During the pupa stage, the larvae are going through a metamorphosis into a ladybug. The pupa stage last for about 5-7 days.

Ladybug Pupa

Ladybug Pupa

LadybugPupa

Ladybug Stage

When the metamorphosis is complete, the skin of the pupa will split open and the full grown ladybug will emerge. The newly emerged ladybug is soft and spotless and have pink or pale color. As the shell hardens, the spots and prominent color of ladybug appears.

Newly Emerged Ladybug

 Ladybug

 Ladybug

Saiful Maluk Lake Naran Pakistan

Saiful Maluk is one of the most beautiful and highest lakes of Pakistan, located at the northern end of the Kaghan Valley, about 14 km (by road) from Naran. The altitude of Saiful Maluk lake is about 3,224 m (10,578 feet) above the sea level. It's 1.5 miles long and 300 meters wide. The Queen of the Mountains "Malka Purbat" peak at height of 17,360 feet (5291.33 meters) is standing in the east of the lake and its image mirrors in the green water of the lake. This lake was named after Prince Saiful Maluk who fell in love with a fairy whom he saw bathing in the lake. I took these picturee with my Yashica camera in 2004, an year ago from 2005 drastic earthquake.

Pictures of Saiful Maluk Lake, Naran, Pakistan

Nicotiana rustica-Wild Tobacco

Nicotiana rustica

Nicotiana rustica, commonly known as Wild tobacco, Indian tobacco, Aztec tobacco Mapacho tobacco or Indigenous tobacco is a plant in the Solanaceae family. It is a very potent variety of tobacco, contains higher level of nicotine in its leaves as compared to other species of tobacco.
Nicotiana rustica is commercially grown in District Swabi and other parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The rustica tobacco is mainly used in Snuff (Naswar) industry locally. The snuff is made by grinding the tobacco leaves, together with ashes of tree bodies (Particularly sheesham tree). The snuff is used by putting under either of the lips. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa about 60% of male and 15% female use snuff. It's also smooked by using an instrument called hookha. However the use of hookha is decreasing day by day.
Tobacco (Nicotiana rustica and Nicotiana tabacum) is one of the major cash crops of Pakistan. Tobacco play an important role in Pakistan economy. About 40 % of all government excise taxes and 10 % of total government revenue are earned through tobacco and its products.
In spite of its economic value, the use of tobacco is an abuse and has short and long term health hazards. The trend of tobacco use in our people particularly in young generation is an alarming issue. There is no proper mass education or awareness regarding the use of tobacco and health risks associated with tobacco use. There is no minimum age limit for using tobacco and even children below 10 years of age use it freely without any restriction.

Nicotiana rustica-Wild Tobacco

Yes to Life, No to Drugs

Large Cabbage White Butterfly Life Cycle

Cabbage White Butterfly Life Cycle Diagram

1st Stage: Eggs

The female Large Cabbage White Butterfly-تتلی (Pieris Brassicae) lays eggs on the host plants in the cabbage family. The Eggs are laid in clusters. The cylindrical eggs are yellow and ridged lengthwise. The eggs hatch in about 4-8 days depending on temperature.

Large Cabbage White Butterfly Eggs

2nd Stage: Larva/Caterpillar

The caterpillars are yellowish green with yellow lines and black spots. They initially feed in cluster. They feed on the host plants in the cabbage family. Because of their preference for cultivated varieties of Brassica oleracea , they are consider as a pest. The larva stage lasts for about two weeks.

Large Cabbage White Butterfly Larvae/Caterpillars

3rd Stage: Pupa/Chrysalis

On maturity the caterpillar attach itself to leaf or branch head up with an abdominal support. It shade the skin with in 24 hours and a yellowish pale green pupa with black spots appears. The pupal stage last for about 8-10 days.

Large Cabbage White Butterfly Pupa/Chrysalis

Large Cabbage White Butterfly Pupa

4th Stage: Adult Butterfly

When the pupa matures the wings of butterfly become visible and after a few hours the skin splits and the adult butterfly crawls out from pupa. At first, the wings are wet and folded and the body is fat .The butterfly pumps its wings to move fluid from its body into its wings. The excess fluid is expelled from body. When the wings expand, it take an hour to dry and harden. And finally the butterfly becomes capable of flight.

Newly Emerged Large Cabbage White Butterfly

Samadhi of Ranjit Singh Lahore

The Samadhi of Ranjit Singh is the mausoleum of the Sikh ruler Maharaja Ranjit Singh (13th November 1780 - 27 June 1839). It is located near the Lahore Fort and Badshahi Mosque in Lahore, Pakistan. Construction was started by his son, Kharak Singh on the spot where he was cremated, and was completed by his youngest son, Duleep Singh in 1848.

Samadhi of Ranjit Singh

Dragonfly Life Cycle

Dragonfly life cycle consists of three stages eggs, nymph, and adult dragonfly. Female dragonfly lays eggs on floating  plants or directly in water.  The eggs then hatch into nymphs, which live under water.  Most of a dragonfly's life is spent as nymph. The nymph stage of dragonflies may last from two months to five years. When the larva is ready to metamorphose into an adult, it emerges from the water and crawl onto a plant. Exposure to air causes the larva to begin breathing. The skin splits at a weak spot behind the head and the adult dragonfly with small wrinkled wings emerges. The dragonfly pumps body fluids and air into the wrinkled wings to inflate and harden them. It pumps the excess fluids out, to balance the system and become ready to flight.

Dragonfly Life Cycle

Dragonflies Mating