Animals that see ultraviolet

You can't see ultraviolet, but 353 animals in our data can, such as a western honey bee, a budgerigar and a goldfish. Flowers, feathers and scales can carry ultraviolet patterns that are invisible to you. Here are the 125 with their own page.

Every animal here that sees ultraviolet

125 animals

A simulation made from published eye studies. Not what the animal feels.

Ranked by sharpness, speed and colour instead? Which animal has the best eyesight?

Which animals can see ultraviolet?

353 animals in our data have eyes that were tested and found to see ultraviolet. The biggest groups: 191 insects, 50 reptiles and amphibians and 45 fish.

Can humans see ultraviolet?

No. None of your 3 colour types is built for it, and the lens at the front of your eye filters most of it out. Animals that see it get an extra colour you cannot picture.

What does ultraviolet look like to them?

Nobody knows how it feels. The photos here show the colours you can see; the extra ultraviolet colour cannot be shown on a screen, so the simulation can only hint at it.

More to play

The science behind it: colour types and ultraviolet