PCT Announces Winner of 13th Annual Photo Contest

Mark VanderWerp, manager of education and training at Rose Pest Solutions, takes home top honors with his photo of a jumping spider perched on a “succulent” plant.

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Mark VanderWerp, manager of education and training at Rose Pest Solutions, Troy, Mich., was announced as the winner of PCT’s annual Best Pest Photo Contest.

VanderWerp takes home top honors with his photo of a jumping spider, Phidippus otiosus. VanderWerp describes that the spider was “perched on a succulent plant, ready to liquefy and slurp up the internal organs of any unsuspecting arthropod passersby.”

The spider was captured in West Virginia, while VanderWerp and Rose were doing a heat treatment. “They are actually a fairly common spider, especially down South. These spiders in the South tend to have an orange abdomen, whereas the ones in the north, including this one, do not,” he said.

PCT’s judges liked this photo for its perspective and that the spider blends into the gray-ish background. VanderWerp used a Canon EOS Rebel T3i to take the photo. “I didn’t use any special effects. The lighting was good and I just got lucky,” he said.

VanderWerp said he actually is a bit “creeped out” by spiders, but is a fan of Phidippus otiosus. “With the bulging eyes and furry eyebrows, they are really like a pet spider. I like to think of them as the ‘Teddy Bears’ of spiders,” he said.

For winning the contest, VanderWerp will receive the $500 prize from PCT magazine. In the coming weeks PCT will be announcing this year’s finalists and running those photos in an online slideshow.