Some of the incredible winning and honored images from this year’s photomicrography competition, selected from nearly 2,000 entries. See if you can guess what each image is showing before reading the caption.

October 15, 2025, 10 AM ET

Zhang You, Kunming, Yunnan, China

Overall Winner: A rice weevil perched on a grain of rice

Dr. Jan Rosenboom Rostock, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany

2nd Place: Colonial algae (Volvox) spheres in a drop of water

Mishal Abdulaziz Alryhan, Al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia

Honorable Mention: Crystallized-soy-sauce fusion with alum

Zachary Sanchez, Nashville, Tennessee, USA

20th Place: Marine copepod

Ye Fei Zhang, Jiangyin, Jiangsu, China

Image of Distinction: Butterfly (Artopoetes pryeri) eggs

Eduardo Agustin Carrasco, Cuenca, Azuay, Ecuador

19th Place: Parasitic fungus (Cordycipitaceae) on a fly (Calliphoridae)

Marek Miś, Suwalki, Podlaskie, Poland

Image of Distinction: Crystallized soy sauce

Robert Schmittling Hillsborough, North Carolina, USA

Image of Distinction: Eye of potato (stomate)

Wim van Egmond, Berkel en Rodenrijs, Zuid Holland, Netherlands

Ninth Place: A fungus (Talaromyces purpureogenus) known for its red, diffused pigment

Solvin Zankl, Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany

Image of Distinction: A floating sea slug (Glaucus atlanticus), also known as the blue sea dragon

Dr. Rory L. Cooper and Professor Michel Milinkovitch, Geneva, Switzerland

Image of Distinction: Wing of a chicken embryo after 11 days of development

Rogelio Moreno, Panama, Panama

16th Place: Spore sacs (sporangia) of a fern

Gregory B. Murray, Pritchard, British Columbia, Canada

Honorable Mention: Frost on a wooden railing

Bernard Allard, Sucy-en-Bry, France

Image of Distinction: Parasitic fly (Crataerina hirundinis)

Dr. Walter Ferrari, Rio Cuarto, Cordoba, Argentina

Image of Distinction: True bug (Hemipteran) eggs on a leaf

Dr. David Maitland, St. Andrews, Fife, United Kingdom

Image of Distinction: Vascular bundles in a bamboo leaf (Phyllostachys sp.)

Frederic Labaune, Auxonne, Burgundy, France

Image of Distinction: Slime mold (Arcyria denudata)

Jianguo Mao, Shanghai, Shanghai, China

Image of Distinction: Pregnant water flea (Daphnia)

Kendall O. Myers and Dr. Matthew S. Lehnert, North Canton, Ohio, USA

Honorable Mention: Hooklike crochets on the larva of an Io (Automeris io) moth

Özgür Kerem Bulur, Istanbul, Turkey

Image of Distinction: Spotted-eye hoverfly

Be sure to visit the Nikon Small World contest website to see the full set of winning and honored images.