Monday, May 11, 2015

Shikoko Cobra Lilly - Arisaema sikokianum in reflected ultraviolet photography and simulated bee vision II

Today more shots of that rare early spring flower, common in Japan at Shikoko island, Shikoko Cobra Lilly - Arisaema sikokianum. in reflected ultraviolet photography and simulated bee vision. All shots were done at about f5.6 in reflected ultraviolet photography using my "work horse" UV filter, the Baader-U filter, as well as my XBV6 filter for simulated bee vision. Further for deeper UV, a 340nm short pass filter was used, stacked to the Baader-U filter. Lens was a CERCO 94mm quartz fluorite lens. Light source was sunlight.

I had mentioned before that I noticed some UV lighting around 340nm which caught my attention and here it is about that.

[click on image to see a larger one]

Triptych of human vision, UV and simulated bee vision (left to right):
 
Triptych of human vision, UV and deep UV below 340nm (left to right):
Triptych of human vision, UV and simulated bee vision (left to right):
 
Triptych of human vision, UV and deep UV below 340nm (left to right):

This Cobra Lilly flower has are extremely UV bright cup around 370nm, with parts drifting towards 380nm. Further to that, deeper UV photography below 340nm reveals, that their cup, but also an area at the bottom of the spathe reflects UV strongly. All that gets nicely visible.

I have previously written about that flower 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