2005 Best Pest Photo Winner and Finalists

Finalist Photo: Queen and male yellow jacket (Vespula vulgaris) mating. Photographer spotted these insects “in the act” on her car windshield.

Photographer: Lesley Le Quesne, Sorex International, Widnes Cheshire, UK

Finalist Photo: Up-close shot of a bald-faced hornet. After a nest was broken the photographer inspected and covering over one of the cells was removed exposing the hornet in its pre-emergence stage.

Photographer: Donna Richardson, Royal Pest Management, New Castle, Del.

Finalist Photo: Unidentified pest.

Photographer: Jorge Rubio, Culiacan, Sinaloa. Mexico

Finalist Photo: Up-close photo of a mantis.

Photographer: Wiley Sanders, Merrill Pest Solutions, Coquille, Ore.

Finalist Photo: Female Carolina mantis, Stagmomantis carolina. Periodically, the photographer’s company gets requests to be careful to not harm their endearing praying mantids on ornamentals while performing residential exterior perimeter treatments.

Photographer: Gerry Wegner, Varment Guard Environmental Services, Columbus, Ohio

Finalist Photo: Termite swarmers taking a peek outside.

Photographer: Joe Graham, Graham Pest Control, Cedar Hill, Texas

Finalist Photo: Crab Spider with captured cockroach (Parcoblatta spp.) Mills County, Texas. Photographer shot this in May 2005 using a Canon 20D w/ 100mm macro lens.

Photographer: Jeff Tucker, Entomology Associates, Houston, Texas

Finalist Photo: The photo was taken this past summer in Linnville N.C. Photographer beleives it is a tiger swallowtail. The camera used was a 3.2 megapixel digital Kodak.

Photographer: Al Hoffer, Al Hoffer's Pest Protection Inc., Coral Springs, Fla.

Finalist Photo: A host of paper wasps, bald face hornets and Polistes were raiding a fungi pantry on photographer’s milkweed patch. This Hymenoptera separated from the pack and was photographed with a handheld Digital Sealife 330 with an underwater 8x lens.

Photographer: Victor Kuspa, (company will be named) Great Lakes Pest Management, Inc., South Bend, Ind.

Finalist Photo: A newly emerging spider.

Photographer: Rick Evans, Evco Computer & Embroidery Creations, Canton, Ga.