Saving Wild Cats

A Closer Look at
Fig 45: Lantana camara displaying unpollinated
yellow flowers and pollinated pink flowers.
COLOUR
Macro photography allows us to capture a subject and view
it at a 1:1 ratio. Some lenses enable you to view a magnified
image of up to five times the actual size and therefore allows
us to notice details we wouldn’t be able to see with the
naked eye. Macro photography not only creates potentially
beautiful images but also plays an important role in science
by allowing people to view small subjects such as insects in
a way they haven’t before. This leads to new perspectives,
sparks interest and curiosity, and facilitates learning.
The use of digital cameras can also improve research
methods in colour analysis of insects and plants.
Traditionally a spectroadiometer would be used to analyse
and record the wavelengths at which an object reflects light.
This piece of equipment however is not only expensive
but also takes an average of reflected light. This can lead to
inaccuracies in recreating colour in way that humans and can
comprehend.
As well as the difficulties in recreating colour, descriptions
of colour by researchers may also lead to inaccuracies.
Colour description may vary between different cultures and
languages. There is also the problem of colour blindness
in some individuals and slight differences in the pigments
absorbed by the cones present in our eyes, all of which make
colour perception a subjective matter. By capturing images
using digital SLR cameras, the pixels that make up an image
can be analysed for their components of red, green and
blue (RGB). By recording these components, colour can
be recreated accurately and consistently for use in animal
behaviour studies. Using macro lenses can further enhance
this process as they allow colour differences to be detected in
areas made up of just a few pixels.
Lantana camara
Lantana camara is a tropical plant originating in South America that is now widely distributed throughout the
rest of the world. As a result of hybridisation it now exists in many different forms with variances in flower colour.
Flowers are usually yellow when they first open and change to pink, white or red after pollination. This change in
colour acts as a visual cue to butterflies and other insects, indicating that the flower has already been pollinated.
Colour change in response to pollination is beneficial to both the plant and insect. It permits the plant a more
impressive, attractive flower display whilst enabling insects to forage more efficiently by avoiding plants that have
reduced nectar.