Photography Competitions

View the fantastic winning entries for the RES Insect Week Photography Competition

The 2026 RES Insect Week Photography Competition is now closed!

Keep an eye on this page and our social media @royentsoc for updates on the winning entries in the new year - Good luck to all our participants!

Enter your best insect photos now

Terms and conditions

Galleries

Banana skipper (Erionota thrax) eggs being parasitized by a wasp (Agiommatus sp.)
2025 Photography Competition Winners – 18 and over
Antlion larvae (Synclisis Baetica) dig craters in the sand and lie in wait at the bottom of the pit, perfectly camouflaged, ready to ambush their unsuspecting prey. When an unlucky ant falls in, they spring into action with lightning speed, seizing their prey with ferocious jaws.
2025 Photography Competition Winners – Under 18 years
This is a highly detailed stacked image of a living gnat ogre photographed in the field. A green background card was placed behind the subject to help with exposure on the tiny subject.
2024 Photography Competition Winners – 18 and over
A large female Jagged Ambush Bug waiting for prey on a Tansy flower head.
2024 Photography Competition Winners – Under 18 years
Two Cuckoo Bees (Epeolus variegatus) fast asleep, grasping onto the grass with their mandibles. Still with a few drops of morning dew on them. Handheld focus stack.
2023 Photography Competition Winners – Over 18 Category
I was able to find many of these gorgeous banded demoiselle by a river near my home in Gävle, Sweden. With the help of the nearby blades of grass I could create foreground and background elements in order to create depth in the image.
2023 Photography Competition Winners – Under 18 Category
It's takes two
2022 Photography Competition Winners – Over 18 Category
Fresh Out Of The Shower
2022 Photography Competition Winners – Under 18 Category
Chrysolina banksii
2021 Photography Competition Winners – 18 and Over Category
Carder Bee
2021 Photography Competition Winners – Under 18 Category
German wasps, Vespula germanica, drinking
2020 Photography Competition Winners – 18 and Over Category
Marmalade hoverfly, Episyrphus balteatus, on a pink flower
2020 Photography Competition Winners – Under 18 Category
Orange tip butterfly, Anthocharis cardamines, and mayfly on a purple flower bud
2018 Photography Competition Winners – 18 and Over Category
Mayfly on an unfurled fern frond
2018 Photography Competition Winners – Under 18 Category
Broad-bodied chaser, Libellula depressa, on a plant stalk in the sun's rays
2016 Photography Competition Winners – 18 and Over Category
Bee on a sunflower
2016 Photography Competition Winners – Under 18 Category
Damselflies mating
2014 Photography Competition Winners- Insect Alive Category
This male cerambycid, like many longhorn beetles, has impressive antennae – in this case about 12cm from tip to tip – to detect and locate females, who produce a sex-attractant pheromone.
2014 Photography Competition Winners- Small Is Beautiful Category
Hairy-footed flower bee, Anthophora plumipes, looking through the keyhole
2012 Photography Competition
Emerging Crane Fly
2010 Photography Competition
Praying mantis in a sunflower field
2008 Photography Competition
Water Measurer with fly as prey
2006 Photography Competition Winners – British Insect Category
Elegant Grasshopper Nymph
2006 Photography Competition – Foreign Insect Category

Thank you for your entries! The 2026 Photography Competition is now closed. Keep an eye on this page and our social media @royentsoc for updates on the winning entries in the new year!