A Bumble Bee on a Rudbeckia fulgida shows it impressive UV pattern, as does the flower! Here the visual shot first [click on image to see much better and larger images]:
The outer petals reflect UV much stronger than the inside of the flower, as it the flower would create a "landing spot" for the Bumble bee. The following shot shows the UV reflection:
I find it quite fascinating that the abdomen of the Bumble Bee reflect UV so strong as if it would like to tell its colleagues "This one is taken for now...". I wanted to find out more about it and created a synthesized "bee vison" version of that one, a bit differently than usual by remapping the UV image into the visual space so that the UV reflecting abdomen gets clearly visible. Quite obviously that has the same UV reflection than the flower center.
Just pure coincidence? I guess not.....!
Stay tuned, more will follow on that fascinating subject...
More info on this very interesting field may be found on my site http://www.pbase.com/kds315/uv_photos
