Striped Pierrot Tarucus nara Life Cycle

The Striped Pierrot (Tarucus nara) is a small butterfly (wingspan: 24 - 28 mm) found in South Asia that belongs to the Lycaenids or Blues family.

Striped Pierrot (Tarucus nara) Butterfly Life Cycle

Eggs are laid singly on the young shoots of the host plants Zizyphus sp. It takes 2-3 days for the egg to hatch.

Egg

Egg

The caterpillars of this species feed on Zizyphus sp. and are attended by ants. The caterpillars occur in two colors i.e pale green and dark green. The caterpillar reach a maximum length of about 14 mm. The larva stage last for about 12 days.

Larva

Larva

On maturity the caterpillar stops eating and attache itself to a leaf head down, supported by a silken grid at the center. The pupa has a length of about 8-9mm. Like caterpillars the pupa also occur in two colors i.e pale green and dark green. On the 6th day the pupa turns transparent, revealing the new butterfly inside and after some time the adult butterfly enclosed itself. Before flight, the newly emerged butterfly takes some time to inflating its wings with blood and letting them dry.

Pupa

Pupa

Newly Emerged Butterfly

Long-tailed Blue Butterfly

Long-tailed Blue or Pea Blue (Lampides boeticus) is a small sized butterfly in the family Lycaenidae found in Pakistan. It has a wing span of about 23 to 42 mm. This is a rare species in the plain area of KPK and I observed only two butterflies this autumn for the first time.

Pea Blue Butterfly (Lampides boeticus)

Black Nightshade-Solanum Nigrum

Black Nightshade (Solanum Nigrum) is a short-lived perennial herb in the family Solanaceae (Nightshade family). Some species in the nightshade family are considered poisonous, because of the alkaloids present in them. The species I'm presenting here is a wild species, but now people start growing it commercially. These days black nightshade is available in almost all veggie vendors and people cook and eat it like other greens. The dark purple colored berries of black nightshade is also eaten. It's a medicinal plant used locally for treating many diseases, like jaundice, diarrhea and vomiting etc.

Black Nightshade-Solanum Nigrum

Black Nightshade (Solanum Nigrum) Flowers

Black Nightshade Berries

Eid-Ul-Adha-Festival Of Sacrifice

Eid-Ul-Adha (Festival of Sacrifice), also known as Eid-e-Qurban, Bakra Eid, Eid-e-Esaar or Greater Eid, is a festival celebrated on 10th day of Zilhaja, 12th Islamic moth. It is the second one of the two religious Festivals celebrated by Muslims worldwide. Muslims begin this occasion with Eid prayer followed by sermon, after the sermon, the Muslims embrace and exchange greetings (Eid Mubarak) with one other. The main event of the festival is the sacrifice of Animals (like goat, sheep or cow etc.), offer to commemorate the willingness of Hazrat Ibrahim (peace be upon him) to sacrifice his son Ismael (peace be upon him) as an act of obedience to God, before God intervened to provide him with a ram to sacrifice instead. Generally the meat is divided in three parts, one is retained by the concerned family, the 2nd part is given to relatives and friends and the third part is distributed among poor and needy people. On the Eid day people wear new dresses and visit their relative and friends houses to offer them Eid greetings. They are served with sweets, fruits and a variety of other dishes. The festival is a great fun for kids. Before Eid day they enjoy feeding and decorating the Sacrificial animals. On the Eid day, they dress in their finest clothing and visit their relatives and neighbors houses to offer Eid greeting, meet their friends and receive Eidi (Small amount of money) from their elders. Here are some pictures taken in relation with Eid-Ul-Adha (Eid Of Sacrifice).

Eid-Ul-Adha-Festival of Sacrifice

Sacrificial Cow

Sacrificial Cow

Sacrificial Animals Market

Sacrificial Animals Market

After Eid-ul-Adha Prayer

Sacrificed Animal at Eid-Ul-Adha

Cutting Qurbani Bone

Cutting Qurbani Meat

Kid at Eid-Ul-Adha

Kid at Eid-Ul-Adha

Granddaddy Long Legs

Granddaddy Long Legs or Harvestmen are arachnids like spiders, but belong to a different order Opiliones, where as spiders belong to order Araneae. In spite of the fact that harvestmen and spiders belong to different orders, due to their resemblance some people called them "Granddaddy Long Legs Spiders" or "Harvestmen Spiders". Harvestmen and spiders are different in many aspects. Harvestmen have one body part, while spiders have two body parts (cephalothorax and abdomen). Harvestmen have two eyes, while spiders have eight eyes. They don’t have silk glands like spiders. Moreover They don't have venom glands and are harmless to humans. They eat decaying plants, small insects, mites, fungi, bird dropping and other fecal material.

Harvestmen (Granddaddy Long Legs)

Moss Plants

        Mosses are tiny, green colored, non-flowering soft plants that grow close together in clumps or mats in damp places. There are approximately 12,000 species of moss classified in the Division Bryophyta. Mosses produce spore capsules which may appear as beak-like capsules borne aloft on thin stalks.
        Mosses may be unwanted and harmful to some gardeners and farmers, but there are gardeners, particularly landscape designers, who use mosses as decoration plants. Personally their green color and carpet like structure always attract my attention.

Moss Plants

Moss Spore Capsules Close ups

Data Darbar Lahore

Hazrat Data Ganj Bakhsh (Hazrat Ali Hajvery) was a Persian Sufi saint and scholar during the 11th century. He was born in 990 AD in Ghazni, Afghanistan and died in Lahore, Pakistan in 1072 AD. His mausoleum, know as Data Darbar (Data Shrine), is located in Lahore near the junction of the Lower Mall and the Circular Road. Thousands of Muslims visit the Data Darbar everyday, to offer Fatiha and pay him tributes. His urs (death anniversary) is held on 18-20 Safar (2nd Islamic Month) and is attended by thousands of pilgrims. He is the author of many books including his famous book Kashf-al-Mahjub (Urdu: کشفُ المحجوب).

Data Darbar Lahore

Blue Mist Flower

Blue Mist Flower (Conoclinium coelestinum) is a perennial wild flowering plant in the family Asteraceae, subfamily Asteroideae. It grow wildly in empty fields, particularly in wetlands. The flower colors range from blue to purple. The fields cover with mist flowers present a very beautiful view, particularly in early winter, when most plants die.

Blue Mist Flowers

Cauliflower Plants

Let me remind you that I'm not an expert in gardening or what so ever, but only an amateur photographer. The main purpose of this blog is to share my pictures, not my knowledge (of course don't have any). Today I,m going to share the pictures of cauliflowers from my vegetable garden.
Cauliflower is one of several vegetables in the species Brassica oleracea, in the family Brassicaceae (mustard family or cabbage family). It's grown for its condensed immature flowers head (curd) and flower stems. It can be eaten both raw and cooked. Cauliflowers can be best grown in a well drained moist soil, rich in organic matter. As there are different varieties that work best in different temperatures, so one need to select a right variety according to temperature.
Eating cauliflower produces gas in stomach, so adding a tab-spoon of dill seeds and/or ginger while cooking cauliflower will not only avoid or reduce gas problem, but will also add spice to your dish.

Cauliflower Plants

Cauliflower Head

Cauliflowers Field