To the naked eye, not much happens in the tree branches deep in our forests, but a closer look, through a camera lens, can tell a different story – one of motherly love. This is exactly what was captured by the overall winner of the 2023 European Wildlife Photography Awards.
The photo taken by the biologist Javier Aznar González De Rueda shows in incredible detail a female bed bug protecting her eggs and newly hatched larvae. The maternal behavior was observed by Aznar in Ecuador’s Yasuní National Park, a dense forest that is the country’s largest protected area. (Look above)
The Spanish photographer explained that the mother’s protection is crucial to improving her offspring’s chances of survival, with a host of predators waiting nearby.
“It is a highly complex ecosystem with countless organisms in a vast network of interconnected life,” he said in a press release.
Several insects are known as bedbugs, so named for their unpleasant smell, but the ones photographed by Aznar go by the scientific name antiteuchus tripterus and are found in South and Central America, with the most common habitat being southern Brazil.
They are about 14 millimeters long and at most 2 centimeters wide, but Aznar was able to show them off up close and personal.
Entries for the competition, organized by the German Society for Nature Photography, were submitted by photographers from 42 countries and prizes were awarded for categories including birds, mammals, landscapes and the underwater world.
Describing the trial process, jury member Mark Littlejohn said in a statement: “Recent studies have found that the rate of species extinction in insects is eight times higher than in mammals, birds and reptiles. And yet the world as we know it would not exist without insects.”
“With that in mind, the long and difficult task of selecting a winner from 18,000 entries was surprisingly easy,” he added
Sabine Riewenherm president of the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation and sponsor of the contest, said raising awareness about insects can help protect them.
In an introductory note to the competition, she said that “nature photography in its traditional form awakens emotions”.
“And emotions play an important role in nature conservation. They stimulate interest in species, habitats and the interconnectedness of nature, as well as raising awareness of nature conservation.”
See also: Photographer records lightning hitting Christ the Redeemer
Source: CNN Brasil
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