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20th Annual Photo Contest: time is ticking away!

 

Twentieth Annual Photo Contest

The 20th Annual Photo Contest to select images for the 2025 cover of the Bulletin of the Entomological Society of Canada is now underway.

Contest rules:

Photos of insects and other arthropods in all stages, activities, and habitats are accepted. To represent the scope of entomological research, we also encourage photos of field plots, laboratory experiments, insect impacts, research activities, sampling equipment, etc. Photos should, however, have a clear entomological focus.

Digital images must be submitted in unbordered, high-quality JPG format, with the long side (width or height) a minimum of 1500 pixels.

Entrants may submit up to five photographs. A caption must be provided with each photo submitted; photos without captions will not be accepted. Captions should include the locality, description of activity, if the main subject is other than an insect (if appropriate), and any interesting or relevant information. Captions should be a maximum of 40 words.

The entrant must be a member in good standing of the Entomological Society of Canada. Photos must be taken by the entrant, and the entrant must own the copyright.

The copyright of the photo remains with the entrant, but royalty-free use must be granted to the ESC for inclusion on the cover of one volume (4 issues) of the Bulletin, and on the ESC website, and in various social media posts by the ESC (credited to the photographer, of course).

Rather than a judging committee, this year, the photo contest organizer will open voting to our members on a website. Photographers of the top three photos chosen will be awarded the following prizes: 1st: $200 gift certificate for Henry’s Camera. 2nd: $100 gift card for Henry’s Camera. 3rd: $50 gift card for Henry’s Camera.

Submission deadline is 15 September 2024. Submit photos at this URL: https://pollunit.com/en/polls/esc_sec_photos_2024

 

 

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Behind the winning shots: “A drilling weevil”

A small greenish weevil with a long snout boring into a fig
The second place winner of the 2022 photo contest was Supratim Laha, a PhD student studying pollinators at the University of Calcutta. We asked about the story behind this amazing picture…
How did this image come about?
The story behind this image is another interesting part apart from the ecological fact. There is a large banyan tree (Ficus benghalensis) on our university campus. One day I was just crossing the tree and suddenly a tiny insect fell on my shirt from the tree. I picked it up and noticed that it was a damn tiny weevil with a ridiculously long snout! I was astonished and started observing the tree closely. After a while, I found a lot of them walking on the tree; however, they were a bit sensitive and used to fly away if disturbed. So, I planned to photograph them the next day. I went to the campus early in the morning. With a lot of patience and slow movements, I searched for a few minutes and found a few individuals drilling through the immature fig fruits. I had my camera with an external flash and a homemade diffuser attached. When I looked at them through the viewfinder, it was an amazing sight! It was spinning its head sideways while drilling. I took a few shots and checked that out on the camera LCD screen, and it was done! The snout was so long that it had to lift its body first by stretching the legs and then it could properly place the tip of the snout on the ostiole. Altogether, it was a bizarre thing to me, I must say! Later on, I observed that they laid eggs inside the fig right after the drilling was done.

What do you like best about this image?
The best part I feel in this image is that we may think of a fig as insignificant or just a regular fruit, but for this tiny cute weevil this fig serves as a whole world wherein their babies will grow and come out successfully one day. The fig trees are often called the queen of the trees. It supports a great diversity of life alone! Conservation of fig trees should be one of the important criteria in land-use management plans. 

What is one piece of advice you would give to newcomers to insect photography?

From my little experience, I would suggest newcomers to wait and observe patiently during insect photography, so that they could predict the next move that the insects would make.

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ESC 2020 Photo Contest Winners

By Amanda Roe (ESC Photo Contest Organizer) & Sean McCann (ESC Photo Contest Organizer-in-Training)

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We are pleased to announce the winners of the ESC Annual Photo Contest. This year saw 27 people participate in our annual ESC Photo Contest. They submitted a high number of entries – 99 to be precise. We wish to thank all the entrants for their fine collection of photos. 

We would also like to thank the anonymous judges who took the time to review and rank all the photo entries.  This is never an easy task with so many stunning pictures. The winners and honourable mentions listed below will have their photos grace the covers of The Canadian Entomologist and The Bulletin for the 2021 season.

 

First Place: Tim Haye

Caption: Samurai wasp, Trissolcus japonicus, parasitizing egg of Halyomorpha halys (Delémont, Switzerland)

 

Second Place: Mel Hart

Caption: Enallagma civile watching the foot traffic along a boardwalk at Riding Mountain National Park, MB

 

Third Place: Andrea Brauner

Caption: A presumed Acrididae grasshopper found hanging out in the backyard in Summerland, BC.

 

Entomologist In Action: Chris Ratzlaff

Caption: Collecting insects and setting up pan traps on the dry slopes of Galiano Island, British Columbia as part of the Biodiversity Galiano Project.

 

Honourable Mentions

Honourable Mention: Andreas Fischer

Caption: Subadult female black widow spider walking on her web. Tsawwassen, BC, Canada

 

Honourable Mention: Matt Muzzatti

Caption: Chiang Mai, Thailand. Two male rhinoceros beetles (Xylotrupes: Dynastinae) preparing to ‘fight.’ Prize fighters are bred and bets are placed on which male will throw the other off a cylindrical piece of wood.

 

Honourable Mention: Richard Yank

Chateauguay River, Sainte-Martine, Quebec

Caption: Portrait of a male American Rubyspot (Hetaerina americana) photographed along the Châteauguay River at Ste-Martine, Québec on August 13, 2020.  A small population of this colourful damselfly was discovered at this site, well north of its usual range, several years ago.

 

Honourable Mention: Robyn DeYoung

Caption: Robber fly in the Subfamily Asilinae, photo taken at Trout Creek Point in Summerland, B.C.

 

Thanks to everyone who participated this year!

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The last of the yellowjackets?

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On Friday, while walking to work I found this male wasp, cold and still on the pavement. This was a male western yellowjacket, Vespula pensylvanica, and he was in rough shape. Even here in Vancouver, wintry weather comes this time of year, and we have had freezing nights for almost a week.

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Males are easy to recognize, as they have long, 13 segmented antennae, and a long gaster with 7 apparent segments. Females have 6 segments on the gaster, and 12-segmented antennae. 

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With the freezing weather we have had, this male was not really able to fly, so he was cooperative for some photos.

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I have seen male yellowjackets later in the year than this, usually when their nest is within a heated home.

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Further south, western yellowjackets have year-round colonies, with multiple queens, but here in Canada they generally conform to the single-foundress colony mode, with a single queen starting a colony in the spring, and dying off in the winter after producing males and new queens.

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After this session, I found a nice sunstruck patch of moss, and laid down some honey (which I keep in a vial for ant photography) and let him have a last meal in the sun before the cold of night came to end his life.

 

 

 

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Hymenoptera at Sunset

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Last night I went for a ramble at Iona Beach in Richmond BC, looking for insects and inspiration in the sand dunes. I knew the sunset would be pretty, as there was a bit of light wispy cloud in the west, so I hurried out to the end of the beach where restoration efforts hadn’t ripped up the ground.

I found my subjects attaching themselves to twigs and vegetation, bedding down for the night.

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Coelioxys spp. (Megachilidae) preparing to attach to a dead, dried flowerhead. Next time you go for a sunset beach stroll, have a look for these and other sleeping insects!

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If you are a photographer, the combination of the setting sun and your flash can do wonderful things to highlight your subjects.

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An Ammophila wasp (Sphecidae), shot without flash, is but a silhouette against the darkening sky.

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I am not sure, but I think I may have gone overboard with this session! It seems like it could be an ad for a tropical beach vacation for insects.

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This slender and elegant caterpillar hunter is fast and nervous in the day, but wonderfully calm in the evening.

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As the light was failing, so were my flash batteries, but this unplanned blur of a cluster of male Colletes males is still cool!

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There are so many bees on this flower that it sags to the ground!

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The Colletes cluster against the darkening sky of night.

Next time you go for an evening stroll on a sandy beach, head up to the dune vegetation, and have a look for these wonderful sleeping wasps and bees!

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SEQ concours photos/SEQ photo contest

Par/by Guillaume Dury
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Chaque année, la Société d’Entomologie du Québec organise un concours photos, afin de trouver les couvertures du bulletin de la société, intitulé Antennae.

Pour aller avec le thème de la conférence de cette année “Entomologie et agriculture biologique; de l’écologie à la pratique”, j’ai choisi le thème “formidable prédateurs à l’action”.

17 photos ont été soumises au total, et les trois gagnantes ont été choisies par vote populaire des conférenciers. Puisque j’était en charge du concours, j’ai décidé du système de vote. Chaque conférencier devait donner son choix de trois photos préférées. 3 points ont ensuite été attribués pour un premier choix, 2 pour le deuxième et 1 pour le troisième. Chaque photographe ne pouvait gagner qu’un des trois prix. Je suis heureux de présenter les photos gagnantes.
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Every year, the Entomological Society of Quebec organizes a photo contest to find cover photos for its bulletin, called Antennae.

To go along this year’s conference theme “Entomology and organic agriculture; from ecology to application” (my translation), the photo contest theme was “formidable predators in action”.

17 photos were submitted in total, and the three winners were chosen by popular vote of conference attendees. Since I was in charge of the contest, I got to decide the voting scheme. Each attendee was asked to give his first, second and third favourite photos. I then counted 3 points for each first choice, 2 points for second and 1 point for third. Each photographer was only allowed to win one prize. I’m happy to present the winning photos.

First

Première position/First Place: Julien Saguez

Second

Deuxième position/Second Place: Roxanne Bernard

Troisième position/Third Place: Julie-Éléonore Maisonhaute

Troisième position/Third Place: Julie-Éléonore Maisonhaute

Félicitation encore aux gagnants!

Congratulation again to the winners!

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Reminder: get your ESC JAM photo contest entries in now!

A friendly reminder from  Adrian Thysse about the JAM 2012 Photo Competition!
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The deadline for submission to the 2012 JAM photo competition is October 30! All  JAM 2012 participants are eligible to enter, so why not submit your best shots now?

The theme for the competition will be Canadian Arthropods, and there are four categories:

  1. Dead – pinned or preserved specimens
  2. Alive – in the natural habitat
  3. Dead or Alive – predators with prey
  4. Alive with mites – insect mite symbiosis (Sponsored by International Journal of Acarology editor, Dave Walter)

$150 will be awarded to the winner for each category and the “Alive with mites” winner may be offered the opportunity to be a cover illustration for the International Journal of Acarology.

So far the judges include John Acorn, David Walter and myself, and we are looking forward to a wealth of submissions from all the many entomologists, amateur or professional, that will be attending JAM 2012.

Go check out the rules and submit today!

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ESC Photo Contest results are in!

The results of the Eighth Annual ESC Photo Contest have been announced!  Judges Kirk Hillier, Kenna MacKenzie, and Rick West faced a difficult task, selecting the winners from among 67 high-quality entries.

The top seven selection will be printed on the cover of all issues of Volume 145 (2013) of The Canadian Entomologist.  The photos were chosen primarily for their composition and quality, but judges also tried to spread the winning entries across insect orders, and to have no more than one winning photo per photographer. The final results are:

First Place: Bob Lalonde, “Halictid on fireweed”. A female Agapostemon sp. (Halictidae), foraging on fireweed in June on the UBC Okanagan (Kelowna) campus.

Second Place: Ward Strong, “Stinkbug eggs”. Stinkbug eggs found on the foliage of lodgepole pine, Tappen BC.

Third Place: Julian Dupuis, “Papilio larva on Artemesia”. Larva of Papilio machaon dodi (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae), on Artemesia dracunculus, near Drumheller, AB

Fourth Place: Crystal Ernst, “Stratiomys badia”. An impressive bee mimic, Stratiomys badia (Stratiomyidae) rests in a garden at dusk, in Chesterville, Ontario.

Fifth Place: John McLean, “Honeybee Drone pupae”. Late stage pupae of the honey bee Apis mellifera L. dissected as part of a search for breeding varroa mite (none found). Taken from a hive in the Gisborne area on the East Coast of the North Island of New Zealand, March 2012.

Sixth Place: Tim Haye, “Pachycoris klugii nymphs”. Nymphs of Pachycoris klugii on Jatropha cucras tree (Tehuacan, Chiapas, Mexico).

Seventh Place: Christa Rigney, “Dakota Skipper on Yarrow”. A gravid female of the Threatened Dakota skipper, Hesperia dacotae (Skinner) (Hesperiidae) perched on Yarrow, Achillea millefolium (L.) (Asteracea) in a tallgrass prairie northeast of Deleau, Manitoba

A slideshow of all of the beautiful photographs entered in this year’s Competition is now displayed on the ESC Website, here. Congratulations to the winners!!!

If you missed this year’s competition, don’t fret! There is still time to submit your own images to another ESC-sponsored photo contest! ESC (or other regional society) members attending this year’s Joint Annual Meeting in Alberta have until October 30th to get their best shots of the year in to the judges of the 2012 JAM Photo Contest.

Thank you one and all for your participation, and keep those shutters clicking!

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JAM 2012 Photo Competition: Canadian Arthropods

By Adrian Thysse, Photographer and  co-organizer of the JAM 2012 Photo Competition
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The Joint Annual Meeting of the Entomological Society of Alberta and the Entomological Society of Canada will be hosted in Edmonton, November 3-7, 2012 . All participants of JAM 2012 are eligible to participate in the photo competition.

The theme for the competition will be Canadian Arthropods, in the following categories:

1. Dead–pinned or preserved specimens
2. Alive–in the natural habitat
3. Dead or Alive–predators with prey
4. Alive with mites–insect mite symbiosis (Sponsored by International Journal of Acarology editor, Dave Walter)

$150 will be awarded to the winner for each category and the “Alive with mites” winner may be offered the opportunity to be a cover illustration for the International Journal of Acarology.

So far the judges include John Acorn, David Walter and myself, and we are looking forward to a wealth of submissions from all the many entomologists, amateur or professional, that will be attending JAM 2012.

Nothing to submit? There is a whole season of delicious bug photography still ahead!

The closing date for submissions is October 30, so get your macro lens on and get cracking! We are looking forward to a biodiverse flood of entries!

Sympetrum sp. Photo by Adrian Thysse

Originally posted at Splendour Awaits:  http://bugs.adrianthysse.com/2012/06/jam-2012-photo-competition-canadian-arthropods/

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