Dandelion under both UV light coloration (left) and visible light coloration (right).
UV coloration is a natural phenomenon that leads to unique interactions between organisms that have evolved the ability to perceive these wavelengths of light. It serves as one method to attract pollinators to the flower along with scent, shape, and nectar quality.[1] Flowers are known for their range of visible colors that humans can see with their eyes and observe an array of different shades and patterns.[2] The naked eye cannot see the ultraviolet coloration many flowers employ to bring attention to themselves.[3] By either reflecting or absorbing UV light waves, flowers are able to communicate with pollinators.[4] This allows plants that may require an animal pollinator to stand out from other flowers or distinguish where their flowers are in a muddied background of other plant parts.[5] For the plant, it is important to share and receive pollen so they can reproduce, maintain their ecological role, and guide the evolutionary history of the population.
^Rodrigues, Daniele (2018). "Do we truly understand pollination syndromes in Petunia as much as we suppose?". AoB Plants. 10 (5): ply057. doi:10.1093/aobpla/ply057. PMC 6202611. PMID 30386543. Retrieved 2022-12-02.
^Guldberg, Larry D.; Atsatt, Peter R. (1975). "Frequency of Reflection and Absorption of Ultraviolet Light in Flowering Plants". The American Midland Naturalist. 93 (1): 35–43. doi:10.2307/2424103. ISSN 0003-0031. JSTOR 2424103.
^Eugene Jones, C.; Buchmann, Stephen L. (1974-05-01). "Ultraviolet floral patterns as functional orientation cues in hymenopterous pollination systems". Animal Behaviour. 22 (2): 481–485. doi:10.1016/S0003-3472(74)80047-3. ISSN 0003-3472.
^Koski, Matthew H.; Ashman, Tia-Lynn (August 2014). Campbell, Diane (ed.). "Dissecting pollinator responses to a ubiquitous ultraviolet floral pattern in the wild". Functional Ecology. 28 (4): 868–877. Bibcode:2014FuEco..28..868K. doi:10.1111/1365-2435.12242.
^Finnell, Lindsay M.; Koski, Matthew H. (November 2021). "A test of Sensory Drive in plant–pollinator interactions: heterogeneity in the signalling environment shapes pollinator preference for a floral visual signal". New Phytologist. 232 (3): 1436–1448. doi:10.1111/nph.17631. ISSN 0028-646X. PMID 34287921. S2CID 236157784.
and 28 Related for: UV coloration in flowers information
the ultraviolet coloration many flowers employ to bring attention to themselves. By either reflecting or absorbing UV light waves, flowers are able to communicate...
insects have specific colorations and behaviors that mimic flowersin their surrounding habitats. This strategy has been observed in other mantises including...
Structural colorationin animals, and a few plants, is the production of colour by microscopically structured surfaces fine enough to interfere with visible...
status to other members of the same species; and in mimicry, taking advantage of the warning coloration of another species. Some animals use flashes of...
or opacity, the cells alter in form and size, and stretch or contract their outer covering. Due to damage from UV-A and UV-B, marine animals have evolved...
hunts on the flowers of the "Straits rhododendron" (Melastoma polyanthum). The nymph has, what Cott calls, "special alluring coloration", where the animal...
color schemes, are the key determinant of UV-coloration. Guanine crystals are exposed through the partially UV-transmitting hypodermis and cuticle. While...
the sundew. Colorationin D. capensis is due to anthocyanin pigment – or the lack of – and does not affect the ultraviolet (UV) coloration of the plant...
under UV light: males reflect UV on all body parts that are displayed during intraspecific interaction, while females and juveniles do not reflect UV at...
unusually purple in the center. The coloration darkens and intensifies with exposure to air and ultraviolet (UV) light; if it is put in water for a few...
scales absorbed in the UV to violet range, orange absorbed in the lower half-wavelengths of the visible spectrum, black scales absorbed in most of the visible...
a unique copper uroporphyrin pigment responsible for the bright green coloration of several birds of the family Musophagidae, most notably the turaco....
depends on the flower on which they are hunting (active camouflage). Younger females especially, which may hunt on a variety of flowers such as daisies...
single inflorescence typically carries only 2 or 3 flowers at a time, however more has been observed. Flowers may emerge from the tip of the inflorescence from...
well-defined tracts on the skin. They aid in flight, thermal insulation, and waterproofing. In addition, coloration helps in communication and protection. The...
is in (gas-discharge) fluorescent lamps and LED lamps, in which fluorescent coatings convert UV or blue light into longer-wavelengths resulting in white...
etc.) are susceptible to this damage in varying degrees. Pigments in paints and stains protect against UV damage. UV-absorbers are added to polyurethane...
America. It was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae. Its coloration coevolved with another member of the genus, H...
usually hidden below the flower-like pedicellariae. They can vary from white, pink, yellow, light green, to purple incoloration with lighter-colored tips...
SW (short-wave) opsins, which are light-sensitive proteins found in the retina. The UV discrimination conferred by this missing protein may cause males...
climate warming. In high altitudes, the Podarcis hispaniscus responds to higher temperature with a darker dorsal coloration to prevent UV-radiation and background...
average survival span of only 24 hours due to the lack of protection from UV radiation and their lack of camouflage to avoid predators. It is a common...
in plants, fulfilling many functions. They are the most important plant pigments for flowercoloration, producing yellow or red/blue pigmentation in petals...
of pigments and dyes, which can produce a luminous glow when viewed under UV light, thereby appearing significantly brighter than their surroundings. Other...
however, controls whether the flowers have color at all or are white. When a plant has two copies of this white allele, its flowers are white—regardless of...
iridescent colours are created by structural coloration produced by the micro-structures of the scales and hairs. As in all insects, the body is divided into...
scops-owls has an ultraviolet (UV) component, with a UV peak that correlates to the bird's mass. A chick with a lower body mass has a UV peak at a higher wavelength...
of larval phase colorationin the African armyworm, Spodoptera exempta and its consequences for thermoregulation and protection from UV light". Entomologia...
Global Information