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Covering the Nikon Small World competition for New Scientist,11 October 2018<\/a><\/p>\n Microphotography has come along way since Nikon staged the first\u00a0Nikon Small World competition<\/a>\u00a0in 1974. Finalists in 2018 harnessed a dizzying array of photographic techniques to achieve the spectacular results displayed here. A full-colour calendar of the winners is in the works, and people in the US\u00a0can look forward to a national tour of the top images.<\/p>\n Yousef Al Habshi from the United Arab Emirates won first prize with the image above of the compound eyes and surrounding greenish scales of a weevil,\u00a0Metapocyrtus subquadrulifer<\/em>.\u00a0 It was made by stacking together 129 micrographs \u2014 photographs taken through a microscope. \u201cI feel like I\u2019m photographing a collection of jewelry,\u201d said Al Habshi of his work with these beautiful Philippine beetles, which are more usually considered agricultural nuisances and targets for pest control.<\/p>\n Rogelio Moreno from Panama won second prize for capturing the spore-containing structures of a fern (above). He used a technique called autoflorescence, in which ultraviolet light is used to pick out individual structures. Spores develop within a sporangium, and Moreno has successfully distinguished a group of these containers from the clustered structure called the sorus. Sporangiums\u00a0at different stages of development show up in\u00a0different colours.<\/p>\n Saulius Gugis from\u00a0the USA photographed this spittle-bug in the process of making its \u201cbubble-house\u201d. The foamy structure helps the insect hide from predators, insulate itself and stay moist. The photograph won third prize.<\/p>\n Other highlights from the prize include a portrayal of the first stirrings of arachnid life by Tessa Montague at Harvard University. The surface of this spider embryo (Parasteatoda tepidariorum<\/em>) is picked out in pink. The cell nuclei are blue and other cell structures are green.<\/p>\n Looking for all the world like an extra from Luc Besson’s sci-fi film The Fifth Element, this magnificent mango seed weevil (Sternochetus mangiferae) earned Pia Scanlon, a researcher for the Government of Western Australia, a place among the finalists.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Covering the Nikon Small World competition for New Scientist,11 October 2018 Microphotography has come along way since Nikon staged the first\u00a0Nikon Small World competition\u00a0in 1974. Finalists in 2018 harnessed a dizzying array of photographic techniques to achieve the spectacular results … Continue reading ![\"fern](\"https:\/\/images.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/11124823\/2-fernsorus.jpg\")
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