By Jessica Stewart on November 2, 2023

Maternal care” by Javier Aznar González de Rueda (Spain). Overall Winner.
“In Ecuador’s largest protected area, Yasuní National Park, I was able to observe maternal care behavior in the stink bug Antiteuchus tripterus over a two-week period. The female bug guarded its clutch of eggs on a small branch. This behavior has been reported for other true bug species. To my surprise, it turned out that the mother bug not only protected the eggs but also the newly hatched larvae up to their first molt. In Ecuador’s rainforest, the stink bug’s brood is vulnerable to attack by numerous predators and parasitoids such as ichneumon wasps. Maternal care significantly increases the offspring’s chances of survival. The rainforest is a highly complex ecosystem with countless organisms in a vast interconnected web of life.”

Nearly 18,000 photos were entered into this year’s competition, and now the breathtaking winners have been revealed.

Spanish nature photographer Javier Aznar González de Rueda impressed judges with his image of a female stink bug guarding her clutch of eggs in Ecuador’s Yasuní National Park. For his efforts, he was named Photographer of the Year in the German Society for Nature Photography (GDT) European Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition.

In doing so, he beat out professional photographers from 42 countries, and his image of this insect topped the nearly 18,000 photographs entered into the contest. His photo highlights the complex ecosystem of the park and the interconnected nature of the species that live there, as the mother wards off potential predators and parasites.

“Do we humans really believe that insects bond with their offspring?” muses jury member Mark Littlejohn. “That they are capable of displaying parental feelings? And are humans capable of connecting emotionally with insects? […]

Silence” by Jan Piecha (Germany). Runner-up, Birds.
“The small town Tissamaharama in the south-east of Sri Lanka is the starting point for safaris to the famous Yala National Park. While in town, I enjoyed strolling through the rice fields in the evenings and stopping in at a flying fox colony at the shore of Lake Tissa. My walk took me along a lakeside promenade with elegant and stately trees. In one of them, I discovered this sleeping intermediate egret (Ardea intermedia).”[…]

“Lichen dinner” by Roberto Bueno (Spain). Winner, Plants and Fungi.
“I found this unusual situation at an abandoned farm near Sintra, Portugal. A complete place setting had been left behind on a stone table. I was very surprised to see that the whole ensemble was covered in lichens. The table stood under a huge tree which most likely provided the shade and moisture needed for the lichens to grow over the course of decades.”[…]

More: Winners of 2023 European Wildlife Photographer of the Year