The Winners of the Luminar Bug Photography Awards 2020 Have Just Been Announced

The winners have been announced in the Luminar Bug Photography Awards 2020, in association with Europe’s leading invertebrate charity, Buglife. Over 5,000 images were submitted from around the globe. The overall winning photographers were, Mofeed Abu Shalwa and Jamie Spensley.

Mofeed Abu Shalwa won Luminar bug photographer of the year. This photograph is of a red palm weevil. (Photo by Mofeed Abu Shalwa/Luminar Bug Photographer of the Year 2020)

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A flower crab spider, shot in Saudi Arabia by Mofeed Abu Shalwa. The flower crab spider can alter the colour of its body to blend in with its surroundings. (Photo by Mofeed Abu Shalwa/Luminar Bug Photographer of the Year 2020)

The Luminar young bug photographer of the year 2020 winner: a carder bee, shot by Jamie Spensley. (Photo by Jamie Spensley/Luminar Bug Photographer of the Year 2020)

Aquatic bugs category winner: a diamond squid by Galice Hoarau, shot in Siladen, Indonesia, during a night-time dive. After sunset, pelagic predators like the diamond squid come close to the surface to hunt. (Photo by Galice Hoarau/Luminar Bug Photographer of the Year 2020)

Aquatic bugs category 2nd place: a larval wonderpus octopus by Galice Hoarau, taken in Lembeh, Indonesia. Aptly, its scientific name is Wunderpus photogenicus. (Photo by Galice Hoarau/Luminar Bug Photographer of the Year 2020)

Bug homes category winner: Home Sweet Home by Lee Frost. It shows a mining bee and a Willughby’s leaf-cutter bee emerging from a bee hotel. (Photo by Lee Frost/Luminar Bug Photographer of the Year 2020)

Arachnids category winner: Microspur by Lung-Tsai Wang. This shot of a lynx spider (Oxyopidae) with its young was taken in the mountains of Taiwan. Lung-Tsai says: “The small oxyopidaes were climbing out, followed by two days of cannibalism, and the last one to survive is the king. It was quite a spectacle!”. (Photo by Lung-Tsai Wang/Luminar Bug Photographer of the Year 2020)

Arachnids category 3rd place: dancing spider by Raed Ammari. Male jumping spiders (in this case a Phidippus insignarius) perform a courtship dance in which they almost form a heart shape with their legs. This one was shot in Colorado. (Photo by Raed Ammari/Luminar Bug Photographer of the Year 2020)

Beetles category winner: 3 … 2 … 1 … Takeoff!, by Christian Brockes. An acorn weevil (Curculio glandium) takes flight. (Photo by Christian Brockes/Luminar Bug Photographer of the Year 2020)

Snails and slugs category winner: Snail by David Lain. A classic portrait of a garden snail, plucked from his garden rockery, UK. (Photo by David lain/Luminar Bug Photographer of the Year 2020)

Beetles category 2nd place: A stag beetle behind a leaf by Martijn Nugteren. (Photo by Martijn Nugteren/Luminar Bug Photographer of the Year 2020)

Flies, bees, wasps and dragonflies category winner: Three Mayfly on Crested Dogstail by Peter Orr was shot on the River Kennet near Kintbury, in the UK. (Photo by Peter Orr/Luminar Bug Photographer of the Year 2020)

Butterflies and moths category winner: Swallowtail by Sara Jazbar. A swallowtail butterfly, newly hatched from the chrysalis and waiting for its wings to dry before its first flight. (Photo by Sara Jazbar/Luminar Bug Photographer of the Year 2020)

All the other bugs category winner: Tug of War by Reynante Martinez. This dramatic shot shows two weaver ants pulling apart a smaller species. (Photo by Reynante M. Martinez/Luminar Bug Photographer of the Year 2020)

Extreme close-up winner: Potter Wasp by Riyad Hamzi in Saudi Arabia. (Photo by Riyad Hamzi/Luminar Bug Photographer of the Year 2020)