>From: Philip Earle <[log in to unmask]> >Subject: Colours? >I don't know if bees can see colours, they certainly know light and dark >colours as they genarally attack black shoes, dark hair etc.. while >ignoring ones body if you are wearing white. >As to flower colours, I read somewhere that at the centre of each >flower thre is a hot spot which refects ultra violet light which the >bees can see. I aslo beleive that bees use UV for navigation. > >Philip Earle >QUB, N. Ireland. Here are some references: courtesy of Peter Kevan: "Color vision in flower visiting insects" (1990) is available from the author: Prof. Dr. R. Menzel, Institut fur Neurobiologie Freien Universita"t Berlin Konigin-Luise-Strasse 28 - 30 1000 Berlin 33, Germany. von Frisch, Karl. Bees: Their Vision, Chemical Senses, and Language. Ithaca, NY Cornell University Press, 1971. Horridge, Adrian. 1977. The Compound Eye of Insects. Scientific American 237:108-120. Menzel, Randolf, Erber J. 1978. Learning and Memory in Honey Bees. Scientific American 239: 102-111. Cheers, Steve Clark Vassar College