Floral Iridescence, Produced by Diffractive Optics, Acts As a Cue for Animal Pollinators

American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) - Tập 323 Số 5910 - Trang 130-133 - 2009
Heather M. Whitney1,2,3,4, Mathias Kolle1,2,3,4, Piers Andrew1,5,3,4, Lars Chittka1,2,3,4, Ullrich Steiner1,2,3,4, Beverley J. Glover1,2,3,4
1Department of Physics, Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge, J. J. Thomson Avenue, Cambridge CB3 0HE, UK
2Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EA, UK
3Nanoscience Centre, University of Cambridge, 11 J. J. Thomson Avenue, Cambridge, CB3 0FF, UK.
4School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, London E1 4NS, UK
5Nanoscience Centre, University of Cambridge, 11 J J Thomson Avenue,#N#Cambridge?CB3?0FF,#N#UK

Tóm tắt

Iridescence, the change in hue of a surface with varying observation angles, is used by insects, birds, fish, and reptiles for species recognition and mate selection. We identified iridescence in flowers of Hibiscus trionum and Tulipa species and demonstrated that iridescence is generated through diffraction gratings that might be widespread among flowering plants. Although iridescence might be expected to increase attractiveness, it might also compromise target identification because the object's appearance will vary depending on the viewer's perspective. We found that bumblebees ( Bombus terrestris ) learn to disentangle flower iridescence from color and correctly identify iridescent flowers despite their continuously changing appearance. This ability is retained in the absence of cues from polarized light or ultraviolet reflectance associated with diffraction gratings.

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We thank S. Rands P. Rudall R. Bateman P. Cicuta and J. Baumberg for discussions and Syngenta for bees. Funded by Natural Environment Research Council grant NE/C000552/1 Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council grant EP/D040884/1 the European RTN-6 Network Patterns the Cambridge University Research Exchange and German Academic Exchange Service DAAD.

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American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Tập 323 Số 5910

130-133

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