See hidden worlds with 2022’s best microphotography

October 15, 2022
by RJ Hamster

2022’S TOP WILDLIFE IMAGES

Saturday, October 15, 2022

In today’s newsletter, we marvel at the hidden wonders these photos unearth, spot the ball of mating bees that make up the year’s best wildlife photo, find real octomoms, a terrifying werewolf, and the Day of the Dead … and also try your luck at guessing the animal in our weekly quiz.

OLE BIELFELDT

That delicate puff of smoke rising from a just-extinguished candle wick (above)? This image was taken at a very high shutter speed to capture the moment.

That tiny pink and fushia tower (below)? That is a stack of moth eggs, magnified 10 times.

What you are seeing are parts of a tiny world, which rarely gets attention but is the center of annual awards for microphotography. Intrigued?

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YE FEI ZHANG

How please? The moth egg stack above came from a very small leaf, photographer Ye Fei Zhang says. “They were strangely superimposed together,” Zhang writes in an email. “There were no red markings on the surface of the moth eggs when they were first found. Over the next two days, the inside of the moth’s eggs continued to develop, and such beautiful red markings appeared.”

CALEB DAWSON

Not what you think: These tangled bulbs, magnified 40 times, might look botanical in origin—but they’re actually milk-producing structures within human breast tissue.

MURAT ÖZTÜRK

What’s for dinner? For this speedy tiger beetle, it’s a fly getting the bite. “No one looks into the mouth of an insect with a magnifying glass,” Murat Öztürk says “Tiger beetles have strong and sharp jaws. The chances of survival of the creatures caught by this insect are very low.”

GRIGORII TIMIN AND MICHEL MILINKOVITCH

And the winner? Take a look, magnified 63 times, at the anatomical microcosmos within the hand of an embryonic Madagascar giant day gecko. See more tiny worlds here.

STORIES WE’RE FOLLOWING

PHOTOGRAPH BY ENRIC SALA

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Island charts new future after worst volcanic eruption in 500 years

WHAT’S IN THIS PHOTO?

VIDEO BY @BERTIEGREGORY

Quiz: Can you guess which animal this gaze belongs to? She stars in one episode of Nat Geo’s “Epic Adventures with Bertie Gregory,” now streaming on Disney+. Hint: this animal’s vocalizations can be heard up to five miles away. Click to find out!

WHAT ANIMAL IS THIS ANYWAY?

IN THE SPOTLIGHT

PHOTOGRAPH BY KARINE AIGNER, WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR

How she got that photo: Nat Geo contributor Karine Aigner was driving in southern Texas when she saw fuzzy balls she thought were anthills. They were just-emerged cactus bees engaged in “a writhing ball of mating,” Nat Geo reports. Aigner has been named 2022 Photographer of the Year for her fascinating image (above). See other award-winning wildlife photos here.

THE BEST WILDLIFE IMAGES

LAST GLIMPSE

PHOTOGRAPH BY SVETLANA BULATOVA

More than carpets: When Russian photographer Svetlana Bulatova traveled to Ingushetiya to document the felted carpets called istings, she discovered something much bigger: “Over time, that story evolved into a deeper tribute to the extraordinary power of human connections.” This image of a young feltmaker combines a modern carpet and the country’s mountains and ancient castles, many of them destroyed after Soviet authorities deported the populace during World War II.

WITH THE FELTERS

This newsletter has been curated and edited by David Beard, Jen Tse, Heather Kim, and Sydney Combs. Amanda Williams-Bryant, Alec Egamov, Rita Spinks, and Jeremy Brandt-Vorel also contributed this week. Have an idea? We’d love to hear from you at david.beard@natgeo.com. Thanks for reading!

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RJ Hamster

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See hidden worlds with 2022’s best microphotography

See hidden worlds with 2022’s best microphotography

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