The red pelargoniums in our garden have such perfect and saturated red petals that I hadn’t imagined they could have striking, invisible UV patterning. Almost all UV markings I’ve seen in flowers before have some subtle visible suggestion of markings. However, even this (presumably selectively bred) cultivar has clear UV-absorbing petal sections. Here I’ve modelled the colours that different animals would see:
Pelargonium in Human vision
Pelargonium in honeybee vision – notice the black markings that are invisible to us humans
Pelargonium in jumping spider vision. Some jumping spiders are trichromats, seeing in red, green and ultraviolet. You can just make out the UV markings, but they aren’t as clear as the bee.
Pelargonium in dog vision. Dogs are dichromats, so can’t see the red/green distinction between flowers and leaves.
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