Flower colours and insect visitors
by Chris, 17 May, 2018, 0 comments
Flowers are the means by which plants attract pollinators. Pollinations leads to fertilisation and fertilisation leads on to seed formation and the propagation of the species. For plants, like sunflowers, the pollinators are insects - so the plant displays something bold and eye catching for them. However, the brilliant yellow and orange colours that we see are not what an insect sees or is attracted by. Insect eyes (compound eyes) see the world very differently - one key difference is that unlike us, insects can see ultra-violet light. Sunflowers (and many other plants) take advantage of this fact by incorporating UV absorbing pigments in their structure; so what we see as a ring of colour with a darker centre is for insects a more complex set of of rings. Read more...
