Hymathon art competition 2024

Voting link for ‘audience choice’ coming soon!

Photography: Specimen

“A look from the past…”

Archaeocercus schuvachinae Simutnik, 2018 (Encyrtidae). Late Eocene, Rovno Amber. The original photographs were taken using a Leica Z16 APO stereomicroscope equipped with a Leica DFC 450 camera and processed with LAS V3.8 software.

Serguei Simutnik

Electrocerus Simutnik, 2023 (Encyrtidae)

Electrocerus brevifuniculatus Simutnik, 2023 (Encyrtidae). The original photographs were taken using a Leica Z16 APO stereomicroscope equipped with a Leica DFC 450 camera and processed with LAS V3.8 software.

Serguei Simutnik

SE Asian hidden gem

Cockerellidia sohmi (Cockerell, 1928) is arguably the most bizzare and rarest velvet ant in Southeast Asia. This is the third specimen ever collected.

Juriya Okayasu

Modern light, ancient subject

This image was taken at the Florida State Collection of Arthropods with a Canon digital SLR camera connected to an Olympus BX51 compound microscope. A stack of images was made by manual adjustment and rendered in Helicon Focus. The specimen is an undetermined sparasionid (Platygastroidea) in Lebanese amber.

Elijah Talamas

Megaphragma longiciliatum Subba Rao

Confocal laser micrograph, Natural History Museum, London UK; Nikon Eclipse upright microscope with a Nikon A1-Si confocal microscope; female collected by Andrew Polaszek in Oman.

Andrew Polaszek

Neomymar vierecki (Crawford, 1913)

A point-mounted specimen of Neomymar vierecki (Crawford, 1913) from the Farmscape Ecology Program’s Hymenoptera collection. Created from a series of focus-bracketed images made with the CameraPixels app on an iPhone SE (2022) held over the eyepiece of a stereomicroscope (Bausch & Lomb StereoZoom 7). The images were processed for color and contrast in Adobe Lightroom Classic and stacked in Affinity Photo 2. While the quality of the images produced using this equipment is not up the standard of advanced photomacrography kits (e.g. microscope objectives on interchangeable-lens camera bodies), it has great advantages in that it is accessible, easy to use, and produces useful results in very little time.

Kendrick Fowler

Photography: Live Hymenoptera

A glimpse into the lifecycle of Vespula orbata

Image was taken from Razeba village, Phek district of Nagaland using IPhone 13. Indigenous communities here consume Vespula orbata. The image was taken from a harvested hive.

FEMI, BENNY

Asian Giant Hornets- threat to some, gourmet food to others

The image is taken from Mao market, a bioresources market in Nagaland, India, where all the bioresources are traded. For several indigenous communities here, Asian Giant hornets (Vespa mandarinia) are a delicacy and a very important alternative livelihood option, where the insect is sold in the markets for prices as high as 35 pounds/kg. Image was take using Iphone 13

FEMI, BENNY

Gemstones

Nest of Bombus terristris with eggs. Photo taken with Olympus OMD E-M1 Mark II with the Olympus Zuiko 60 mm objective and a Marumi lens.

Paolo, Rosa

I’m coming

Pupa of Bombus terrestris. Nerves and genital capsule are visible in transparency. Photo taken in the lab with Olympus OMD E-M1 Mark II with the Olympus Zuiko 60 mm objective and a Marumi lens. 

Paolo, Rosa

Rising star

Pupa of Bombus terrestris. Photo taken with Olympus OMD E-M1 Mark II with the Olympus Zuiko 60 mm objective and a Marumi lens.

Paolo, Rosa

Sleepeolus

This Triepeolus helianthi was found sleeping on a sunflower petal on a rather cold and windy day near Wawawai County Park, Washington. The photo was taken with an OM Systems OM-1 camera and Zuiko 60mm macro lens.

Aidan Hersh

Anthophora in flower

Found at an increasingly rare piece of remnant Palouse prairie, low temperatures forced this male Anthophora to retreat into the safer confines of a gentian flower. This is a handheld stacked image of 90 photos taken with an OM Systems OM-1 camera and Zuiko 60mm macro lens.

Aidan Hersh

Ant bodyguard

Leafcutter ants (Genus Atta) are incredible insects that display a wide range of remarkable behaviors. In this photo from La Selva Biological Station in Costa Rica, one such behavior is on display: a smaller worker ant provides protection from above for a larger, foraging worker.  Leafcutter ants are a common target of parasitic phorid flies, which will lay an egg on Atta workers, but the small workers perched on top of leaves, or in this case seeds, help deter these flies and protect their sisters. Taken with a Sony a6500 camera and Laowa 65mm macro lens. 

Aidan Hersh

Orchid bee in flight

When I traveled to Costa Rica, one of my hopes was to find and photograph orchid bees, and I even brought some eucalyptus oil with me to try and attract some males. This photo of a male Euglossa championi was taken as he came to land on a leaf that was baited with this fragrant oil. Taken with a Sony a6500 camera and Laowa 65mm macro lens.

Aidan Hersh

Megachile mating in action

This is one of my favorite photos I’ve ever captured, as it shows the subject in a brilliant pose while also providing some foreshadowing for what is about to happen next. In focus is a female Megachile perihirta foraging on an echinacea flower with her metasoma sticking high in the air. The blur of yellow in the foreground is not a random insect flying by, but rather a conspecific male that is about to dive in for a mating attempt with the female. Spoilers: it was not successful. Taken in Bellingham, Washington with a Sony a6500 camera and Laowa 65mm macro lens.

Aidan Hersh

Pepsis spec. (f)

A female Pepsis spec. nectaring on milkweed at the SWSR (Portal, AZ). Photographed with Sony Alpha 6000 and Sony 90mm Macro G OSS.

Robert Zimmermann

Alysson tricolor (m) resting

A male Alysson tricolor rests between exhaustive search flights for mating partners. Photographed in Regensburg, Bavaria with Sony Alpha 6000 and Sony 90mm Macro G OSS.

Robert Zimmermann

Graceful pollinator: Lasioglossum on petals

While we humans cannot tread delicately on flower petals without causing harm, bees gracefully perform this task as they pollinate, reminding us of their crucial role as one of Earth’s most important pollinators. Here’s a beautiful female Lasioglossum (Dialictus) sp., captured while walking on these delicate flowers. Hope you enjoy her elegance and beauty! Captured on June 30, 2022, in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba, Canada, I used an Olympus OMD EM1 Mark II, 60mm Zuiko macro lens, Raynox DCR-250, and Godox V350o flash. 

Thilina Hettiarachchi

Golden pollinator amid purple splendor

This photograph features Colletes wilmattae, a charming plasterer bee from the family Colletidae, delicately perched on Silky Prairie Clover (Dalea villosa). I took this photo on July 28, 2023, at Spruce Woods Provincial Park, Manitoba. The image was captured using an Olympus OMD EM1 Mark II, 60mm Zuiko macro lens, Raynox DCR-250, and Godox V350o flash.

Thilina Hettiarachchi

Dreaming in Purple

This photo captures a sleeping male Short-horned Cellophane Bee (Colletes brevicornis) resting on a Campanula petiolata flower. I took this image using an Olympus OMD EM1 Mark II, 60mm Zuiko macro lens, Raynox DCR-250, and Godox V350o flash. The photograph was taken in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, on Jun 22, 2023. The calm pose of the bee showcases its natural resting behavior within the flower.

Thilina Hettiarachchi

Pollination Competitors

taken in a sunflower park in New Jersey, Nikon D750 with an AF-S Micro Nikkor105 mm 1:2.8G lens. A bee trying to get pollination opportunity vs. a bumble bee.  

ChungKun, Shih 

Pollination Disrupter

taken in a NJ Sunflower Park. Nikon D750 with a lens of AF-S Micro Nikkor 105mm 1:2.8 G. A bumble bee trying to chase away a butterfly pollinating a flower.  

ChungKun, Shih

Mouthpart Structures

The photo is taken in home flower garden in Scotch Plains, New Jersey. Nikon D750 with a lens of AF-S Micro Nikkor 105 mm 1:2.8G. The wasp was cleaning and adjusting its mouthpart before pollination.  

ChungKun, Shih

Honey Bee Pollination

The photo was taken in a home flower garden in Scotch Plains New Jersey. The honey bee was pollinating a flowers. 

ChungKun, Shih

Bumble Bee Pollination

The photo was taken in a home flower garden. The bumble bee  was pollinating a flower in the garden

ChungKun, Shih

Championi of Nest Camoflage

Nest of Nectarinella championi in Guanacaste, Costa Rica.  Taken with an iphone 13.  

Laura Miller

Sycophila

Sycophila ovipositing inside a hairy wasp gall on an oak leaf.

Jeong Jae Yoo

Pollen-covered perfection: Melissodes trinodis on False Sunflower

Close-up of a Dark-veined Longhorn Bee (Melissodes trinodis) on a False Sunflower, taken on August 25, 2022, in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Captured using an Olympus OMD EM1 Mark II, 60mm Zuiko macro lens, Raynox DCR-250, and Godox V350o flash, this image highlights the bee’s pollen-covered face and its role in pollination.

Thilina Hettiarachchi

Photography: Hymenopterists in Action

The Art Competition

USNM postdoc Luke Kresslein (Hominidae) prepares a submission for the Hymathon 2024 art competition, surrounded by the tools of his trade. Taken with a Samsung Galaxy phone camera, 9 October 2024.

Jessica Awad

Lenses on the Littlest Lives: Hymenopterists at Work

Dr Ben Parslow and Dr Daniel Appleby hunt for crabronid and mutillid wasps at dusk in Morgan Conservation Park, South Australia

Madalene Giannotta

Illustration: Scientific

Fore wings of three diapriid wasps

Annotated diagram depicting the fore wing venation of three diapriid wasps (representing the range of venation patterns seen in the family) created for “Biodiversity & Classification of Wasps: The WaspID Course Manual.” Image A is the fore wing of a Scorpioteleia, B an Aneurhynchus, and C a Trichopria. The wings were traced manually from specimen photographs in graphic design software (Affinity Designer and Affinity Designer 2).

Kendrick Fowler

Archaeocercoides puchkovi Simutnik. 2022 and its putative host. Rovno amber, late Eocene.

A cover slip at some angle to the surface of the amber, the inclusion is shown by an arrow B Archaeocercoides puchkovi, gen. et sp. nov., holotype female, body, dorsal (pst – parastigma, stv – stigmal vein) C syninclusion, crawler of Coccoidea D A. puchkovi, gen. et sp. nov., fossilized near the crawler of Coccoidea (arrow) (Putative host). Scale bars: 0.5 mm (A, B, D); 0.2 mm (C). Foto from Simutnik et al. 2022. Photographs were taken using a Leica Z16 APO stereomicroscope equipped with a
Leica DFC 450 camera and processed with LAS Core and Adobe Photoshop software
(brightness and contrast only). To improve imaging, we applied sucrose syrup of approximately the same refractive index as the amber itself and then placed a glass cover
slip on top. To photograph some of the structures, the cover slip was placed at different angles to the surface of the amber (Fig. 1A). Afterwards, the syrup was removed by
warm water.

Serguei Simutnik

Leptoomidae Gibson, 2023

Leptoomus janzeni Gibson, 2008. Rovno amber, late Eocene. From Simutnik et al. 2020

Serguei Simutnik

Sulia glaesaria Simutnik, 2015 (Encyrtidae).

Two specimens in Rovno and Danish amber. Late Eocene. Sulia glaesaria Simutnik, 2015 (Encyrtidae).  Late Eocene. In Rovno (yellow) and Danish (Red) amber (Simutnik et al. 2021a). The original photographs were taken using a Leica Z16 APO stereomicroscope equipped with a Leica DFC 450 camera and processed with LAS V3.8 software.

Serguei Simutnik

Illustration: Fun & Artsy Hymenoptera

Telenomus sp. (Hymenoptera: Scelionidae)

Telenomus species are egg parasitoids of insect orders such as Lepidoptera, Diptera, Hemiptera etc. Many of them are potential biocontrol agents against notorious pest species. This mega genus comprises many cryptic species and species level identification is a challenging task! The illustration was made on a Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 FE.

Rupam, Debnath 

Mighty Male

Identification of many Hymenoptera taxa involves the study of male genitalia. Whether married or bachelor, hymenopteran males must always stay ‘mighty’ for hymenopterists!

Rupam, Debnath

Uncensored Publications

Hymenopterans hate and feel embarrassed by the uncensored publications on species description!

Rupam, Debnath

Iron fist in a velvet glove

A digital recreation of a linocut-style artwork depicting the mutillid wasp Ephutomorpha paradisiaca. Inspired by Craig Brabant’s beautifully pinned and imaged specimen, this black-and-white piece highlights the intricate sculptural details of the wasp’s exoskeleton. 

Madalene Giannotta

Heart creation

Canvas, acrylic fluid pouring, 70x60cm. These eurytomids are copulating, and their meeting antennae create the shape of a heart. 

Matvey Nikelshparg

The Milkmaid

Whimsical depiction of aphid-farming by a worker ant in the genus Camponotus. Many different kinds of ants will farm honeydew from aphids in exchange for protection. Drawn in Procreate on iPad.

Rachel, Behm

Bee fridge magnets

Most bee species nest underground but there are also “renters” who nest inside various cavities, like plant stems. On these wooden pieces there are portraits of examples of such species, and of nest cappings. From upper left: nest of Megachile, female Heriades, nest of Osmia, male Megachile willughbiella, male Osmia cornuta.

Justyna Kierat

The unsung heroes 

Wasps – the unsung heroes, often hated and feared. Now, depicted in their gentle manners. Specie: Polistes dominula. Technical description: Digital collage made of different types of  illustrations, and photographs.

Kiril Arsovski (co-author) and Ivana Temelkoska (co-author)

Birth rates

Ecaterina Pirvu

Relax and sip wine

Ecaterina Pirvu

Ryssa persuasoria

Ecaterina Pirvu

Megarhyssa sp

Ecaterina Pirvu

Evania appendigaster

Ecaterina Pirvu