Who knew zooming into an ant would be so terrifying?
No, this is not a new character from Game of Thrones' House of the Dragon, just a tiny, tiny ant.
A close-up photograph of an ant was sent in as a submission to the 48th annual Nikon Small World Photomicrography Competition — and the results are freaky.
The tight shot of the tiny insect, captured by Dr. Eugenijus Kavaliauskas of Taurage, Lithuania, shows the ant’s beady red eyes, angry expression and what appears to be long, sharp teeth.
Kavaliauskas captured this photo of the ant by using reflected light with 5X objective lens magnification, according to the competition.
The photo has the everyone quacking at the boots because it looks like a main character from a new horror movie.
Yet the detailed snapshot that has stirred up so much conversation and shock on social media didn’t place in the Small World competition.
https://twitter.com/5media_official/status/1582728523009040384
Instead, Nikon’s first-place winner, Grigorii Timin and Dr. Michel Milinkovitch of the University of Geneva, presented a detailed photo of the embryonic hand of a Madagascar giant day gecko — showing the complete internal structure in vibrant colour.
This is what in fact took top prize.
"Masterfully blending imaging technology and artistic creativity, Timin utilized high-resolution microscopy and image-stitching to capture this species of Phelsuma grandis day gecko," Nikon said in a press release.
"[With] a visually stunning and painstaking technique, Timin used image-stitching to merge hundreds of images together to create the final image of his gecko."
Timin commented, "This particular image is beautiful and informative, as an overview and also when you magnify it in a certain region, shedding light on how the structures are organized on a cellular level," according to the news release.
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