These freaky, award-winning bug shots are scarier than any Halloween costume

What the heck is that, you ask? And no, it ain’t a still from an upcoming live-action remake of A Bug’s Life. That’s a real close-up shot of an ant, which, we’re sure you’ll agree, looks freaking terrifying. And there are billions of them, all around you. Sleep well!

That incredibly zoomed-in perspective is showcased at the Nikon Small World awards, which aren’t about normal photography but photomicrography – meaning that the pictures are taken through a microscope. It’s a great way of seeing everyday critters like moths, flies, ants and spiders like you’ve never seen them before.

But the 2022 edition of the Nikon Small World awards didn’t just focus on insect shots. Also featuring amongst this year’s winners were things like algae, particles, geckos and human colons.

You can take a peek at all the winners of the Nikon Small World awards here but, in the meantime, below are a few of our favourites – starting with the bugs.

‘Long-bodied cellar/daddy long-legs spider’ by Dr Andrew Posselt

‘A fly under the chin of a tiger beetle’ by Murat Öztürk

‘Bold jumping spider’ by Dr Andrew Posselt

‘Red speckled jewel beetle’ by Yousef Al Habshi

‘Transgenic axolotl showing components of the nervous system’ by Dr Marko Pende

‘Autofluorescence of a single coral polyp’ by Brett M Lewis

‘Breast tissue showing contractile myoepithelial cells wrapped around milk-producing alveoli’ by Caleb Dawson

‘Larva of an anemone, found in marine plankton’ by Wim van Egmond

‘Embryonic hand of a Madagascar giant day gecko’ by Grigorii Timin and Dr Michel Milinkovitch

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