An Aussie Captures PCT's 7th Annual Photo Contest

RICHFIELD, Ohio — PCT announces Stephen Doggett, senior hospital scientist in the medical entomology department at Sydney’s Westmead Hospital, as winner of this year's contest for this paper wasp photo.

Doggett’s winning photo was of a papernest wasp (Polistes sp.) defending her nest. An egg can be clearly seen in the cell.

“This was taken at Taree which is about a three hour drive north of Sydney," Doggett said. "Many parents are concerned that these wasps may harm their children and so will often have the nest removed. In reality, the native Polistes paper nest wasp is quite a docile creature; to give you an idea, the lens was only about 4 centimeters from the wasp and yet I escaped unharmed. It is only when people come in direct contact with the wasp that they may sting. I consider that these are fascinating insects and should be left in peace.”

Doggett started photographing insects back in the film days during the 1980s using a manual Ricoh SLR and moved into the digital era over recent years. His favorite type of photography is macro-photography because of the incredible detail that can be captured by modern day digital cameras.

“Normal photography captures what the eye can see, while macro photography captures what the eye can not. I now consider that my most valuable tool in a bed bug inspection is the camera,” he said. “In one infestation I will take literally hundreds of photographs and it is extraordinary how often the images will reveal bed bugs and their eggs, which were not obvious by the naked eye. Such photographs have become an invaluable training aid in teaching pest managers on the intricacies of bed bug eradication. I believe that a good quality digital camera should be a standard item in every pest management professionals' kit.”

Doggett has been involved in the pest control industry for almost 25 years. His research background in entomology includes having worked on and published articles relating to ticks and tick-borne diseases, mosquito surveillance, mosquito-borne diseases, biological control, vector competence, bird mites and most recently a series on bed bugs. During the last five years Doggett has been documenting the rise and impact of bed bugs within Australia, and is consulted by the hospitality sector, pest management industry and the media on bed bugs and their eradication. He is the principal author of the Australian Code of Practice for the Control of Bed Bugs, which is freely available from www.bedbug.org.au. This code was the first of its type in the world and has received international recognition by being adopted by the Italian and New Zealand Pest Control associations.

Doggett said the winning photo was taken with a Canon 40D, MPE65 macro lens and MT24ex flash. For taking the winning photograph, Doggett wins $500 from PCT.

CLICK HERE to view the 10 finalist photos from this year's contest.