A photography blog that focus on Pakistan natural beauty, people, culture heritage, customs and traditions, historical places, travel destinations, wildlife: flora and fauna.
The Yellow Pansy (Junonia hierta) is a species of butterfly in the family Nymphalidae (brush-footed butterflies or four-footed butterflies), found in the the tropical areas of Asia and Africa. It's a medium sized butterfly with a wingspan about 45-55 mm. It's a sun-loving butterfly and can be often seen basking in the sun on the ground or rocks.
The Common Four Ring (Ypthima huebneri) is a species of Satyrinae (Browns) butterfly in the family Nymphalidae found in Pakistan. They have a wingspan of about 30-35mm. They are weak flier and generally fly close to the ground. Because of their dull brown color, I always ignored to photograph them.
The Indian Fritillary (Argynnis hyperbius) is butterfly of the Nymphalid or brush-footed butterfly family. It has a wingspan of about 85 mm. It is found in the northern areas of Pakistan and migrate to plain areas in the early winter.
The Yellow Coster (Acraea issoria) is a medium sized (wingspan 60-70mm), leathery-winged butterfly in the family Nymphalidae (brush-footed butterflies) found in Kashmir Valley, Pakistan. I shot this female yellow coster, while she was at rest under a dar (Debregeasia salicifolia) leaf for laying eggs. I observed the eggs after watching the picture on my computer, so no luck of getting a closeup of the eggs.
The Painted Lady-تتلی (Vanessa cardui) is a medium size butterfly having a wing-span of about 55-60 mm, in family Nymphalidae (brush-footed butterflies or four-footed butterflies). I have already posted some pictures of Painted Lady Butterfly. Today I'm going to share the pictures of four stages of painted lady butterfly life cycle. Observing and documenting the different phases of a butterfly life cycle is really a fun.
Painted Lady Butterfly Life Cycle
Eggs
The Female painted lady butterfly lays pale green eggs on the upper surface of the host plant leaves. The eggs are laid individually and hatch in about 4 to 6 days. The host plants in our area are milk thistle, Canadian thistle and common mallow.
Painted Lady Butterfly Eggs Pictures
Larva/Caterpillar
When the caterpillar hatches, it eats the egg shell as its first meal. Then it starts eating the leaf of host plant upon which the egg had been laid. The caterpillar passes through four different instars before pupation. This stage takes about 10 days to complete.
Painted Lady Butterfly Larva/Caterpillar Pictures
Pupa/Chrysalis
At the final molt the caterpillar crawls to a safe place and hangs upside down from a branch or leaf with the help of silken thread. In about 24 hours the skin splits down the back and a grayish-pink color pupa/chrysalis appears, which then turns golden. On maturity the pupa become transparent and the wings of butterfly become visible. The pupa takes about 7 days to turns into a butterfly.
Painted Lady Butterfly Pupa/Chrysalis Pictures
Butterfly
When the butterfly emerges from the pupa, its wings are wet and folded. In about 10 minutes the wings open and become straight. Then it needs about an hour more to dry and harden the wings. In drying process it does not open wings, so I had to disturbed it to take an open wings shot.
The Indian Red Admiral or Asian Red Admiral (Vanessa indica) is a medium sized butterfly (wingspan: 55-65mm) in the family Nymphalidae (Brush-footed Butterflies), subfamily Nymphalinae. The upper side of fore wing is dark-brown with red/orange markings and white spots near the apex. The under side of fore wing is very similar to upperside with three transverse blue spots beyond the cell. The upper side of hind wing is golden brown with marginal red/orange band having small black spots in the center. The underside of hind wing is mottled with different shade of brown. It's some time confused with its close relative, Painted Lady.
The Peacock Pansy (Junonia almana) is a medium size butterfly (wingspan 60-65 mm) that belong to family nymphalid. This specie is found in South Asia. There is a difference in wet season and dry season species. The wings of the dry season specie are highly angular while the underside is dull and cryptic, hence the specie look like a dry leaf from underside. In both species the upper side is orange-yellow in color, having two eye spots on each wing. The eye spot on the upper margin of the hind wing is comparatively large.
Common Castor (Ariadne merione), also called Castor Butterfly is an unattractive butterfly and that is why I always ignore it. Some days before I decided to photograph it. Below are the images of different stages of the butterfly.
Egg stage
Common castor butterfly lay individual eggs on the back side of the host plant, castor. The round shaped yellow eggs are covered with spines. They lay a large number of eggs per leaf.
Common Castor Butterfly Eggs
Larva Stage
The common castor butterfly larva feed on castor leave. The green colored caterpillar have dorsal longitudinal brown stripe and two dorsal and two lateral rows of short branched-spines. There is a pair of long, straight branched-spines on the head. The caterpillar turns reddish-brown when mature.
Common Castor Butterfly Larvae (Caterpillars)
Mature Caterpillar
Pre-Pupa Caterpillar
Pupa( Chrysalis) Stage
The chrysalis of common castor is pale green and angular in shape. It's expended wing-cases, a dorsal projection and two small cephalic points. It has a length of about 15mm-20mm. As I was observing the pupa in November (a cold month), it took about 20 days in becoming mature.
Common Castor Butterfly Pupa (Chrysalis)
Mature Pupa (Chrysalis)
Adult Stage
Common Castor (Ariadne merione), is a medium size (wingspan 50mm-60mm) butterfly of the family Nymphalidae (The Brush Footed Butterflies). It has an orange color with brown wavy lines. As larvae feed exclusively on Castor,that is way it's called Common Castor Butterfly. The dry season butterfly has a wider wingspan as compare to wet season. Below are the images of dry season common castor butterfly.
The Blue Pansy (Junonia orithya) belong to the family Nymphalidea, is a medium size butterfly with a wingspan of about 40-50mm. It's a sun-loving species, which can usually be found on grassy patches in open areas, often sitting on bare ground. The blue pansy is very common in Pakistan.
