Apache beggarticks - Bidens ferulifolia in reflected ultraviolet photography, simulated bee and butterfly vision XIII

Today shots of that long blooming spring flower "Rockstar" hybride Apache beggarticks - Bidens ferulifolia in reflected ultraviolet photography and simulated bee and butterfly vision. All shots were done at f8 in reflected ultraviolet photography using my "work horse" UV filter, the Baader-U filter, as well as my XBV filters for simulated bee and butterfly vision. Lens was a UV-Nikkor 105mm quartz fluorite lens. Light source was sunlight and a little help from my Nichia 365nm UV LED. But today also about a different color scheme for simulated bee vision.

[click on image to see a larger one]

Human vision:
 

Reflected UV:
 

Simulated butterfly vision:
 

Simulated bee vision:
 

Simulated bee vision in alternative color mapping:
 

Quadriptych of human vision, UV, simulated butterfly and bee vision (left to right, top to bottom):
 

Same as before but with alternative color mapping for bee vision (bottom left):
 

The idea behind this mapping is, that the petal tips reflect all colors a bee can see, including UV, so it should be "white" to our eyes representing "bee-white"; the center however does not reflect UV, so it is colorful in the non-UV colors.

Bidens has a strong visible UV pattern, its petal tips are UV bright around 365nm, its center is quite UV dark, so this gets quite nicely visible in simulated butterfly and bee vision, also using a different color mapping scheme.

I have written about Bidens previously HERE
 
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