PCT announced that LSU’s Dr. Claudia Husseneder was the winner of PCT’s 14th Annual Best Pest Photo Contest with a picture of biting midges feeding on wing veins of a dragonfly.
The following slideshow includes the winning photo as well as the finalist photos from this year's competition.
WINNING PHOTO: This year’s winning photo was of biting midges feeding on wing veins of a dragonfly and it was taken by Claudia Husseneder from Louisiana State University.
Richard Berman, Waltham Services (retired), took this fly photo in Hull, Mass. “The photo shows why the bite hurts with a clear image of the large piercing-lapping mouthparts,” he noted.
A. G. (Tony) Smith, Univar Houston (retired), took this photo of a bumblee feeding on nectar of several varieties of flower.
Jimmy Rigg of Ant Busters, Carlsbad, Calif., took this photo of a European Honey Bee while he was relaxing and “having a late afternoon beer.”
Ed Freytag, research entomologist with the New Orleans Mosquito & Termite Control, liked this photo of a flesh fly he snapped in Fort Collins, Colo. “I especially like the way the yellow center of the aster flower looks like the sun in the background.”
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Donna Richardson of Royal Pest Solutions, New Castle, Del., took this photo, which she titled “Patience, young grasshopper.”
Mark VanderWerp of Rose Solutions, Troy, Mich., submitted this photo of a mating pair of lady beetles (Hippodamia variegata) cruising a milkweed plant for aphids to eat. He assures PCT’s readers that “this is NOT a scene from a Katy Perry video.”
Amber Thorpe of Mares Exterterminating, Poquoson, Va., snapped this photo of a robber fly in her garden.
Bruce Arnold, a retired 25-year pest management professional, took this photo of a praying mantis found in his backyard. “He was friendly and crawled on my hand after I put it down next to him.”
Jaime I. Negrete, a service technician for Aiken Pest Control, took this photo of Gasteracantha cancriformis (spiny orbweaver spider) in a customer’s backyard with a macro lens attached to an iPhone.
A mosquito feeding. The photo was shot in Central America by Tom Myers, All-Rite Pest Control, Lexington, Ken., who recalled, “I was photographing another insect when the mosquito flew in and started feeding on me. I ‘switched focus’ to the mosquito.”
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“What I believe makes this photo so interesting is that it appears the mantidfly (Climaciella brunnea) is looking at its own reflection in the plexiglass,” said its photographer Daniel Dye, training coordinator, Florida Pest Control & Chemical Co., Gainesville, Fla.