On this special episode of Growing at ReimanGardens, Butterfly Wing Curator, Nathan Brockman, takes a unique look at butterflies under Ultraviolet (UV) “light.” UV light is a type of wavelength that is shorter to those found in visible light. It cannot be seen by humans without the aid of special tools, such as black light. Certain species of insects can see ultraviolet patterns exhibited by plants and other insects which go unseen by most mammals. On this episode, Nathan briefly describes visible and UV light then shows examples of butterflies and flowers which exhibit an ultraviolet pattern.
The butterflies from the Christina Reiman Butterfly Wing displayed in the video include; Postman Butterfly (Heliconius melpomene), Tiger Longwing (Heliconius hecale), Numata Longwing (Heleconius numata), Sara Longwing (Heliconius sara), Sapho Longwing (Heliconius sapho), Ismenius Longwing (Heliconius ismenius), Common Mormon (Papilio polytes), Emperor Swallowtail (Papilio ophidocephalus), and Constantine’s Swallowtail (Papilio constantinus). For more information on ReimanGardens please visit www.reimangardens.com.
