Creeping Zinnia as we see it (left) and with UV shades made visible

 

Researchers are being offered a glimpse of how bees may see flowers in all their ultra-violet (UV) glory.

 

The Floral Reflectance Database (FReD) was created by researchers at Imperial College London and Queen Mary, University of London.

 

It enables researchers to "see" plant colours through the eyes of bees and other pollinating insects.

 

Bees have different colour detection systems from humans, and can see in the UV spectrum.

 

"This research highlights that the world we see is not the physical or the 'real' world - different animals have very different senses, depending on the environment the animals operate in," said Professor Lars Chittka from Queen Mary's School of Biological and Chemical Sciences.

 

"Much of the coloured world that's accessible to bees and other animals with UV receptors is entirely invisible for us. In order to see that invisible part of the world, we need this special machinery."

 

The researchers collected what's called "spectroreflective" measurements of the petals and leaves of a large number of different plants. These measurements show the colour of plants across both the visible and invisible spectrum.

 

Users of the database can then calculate how these plants appear to different pollinating insects, based on studies of what different parts of the spectrum different species see.

 

Scientists have inferred what colours insects see by inserting microelectrodes into their photoreceptors, and by using less invasive behavioural studies.

 

Seeing the world as insects may see it can reveal "landing strips" which are invisible to the human eye. These act to guide insects to the nectar they feed on.