A luminous golden fairy-fly that uses feathered wings to hover won the 2008 Olympus Bioscapes Digital Imaging Competition, a forum for microscope photos and videos of life science subjects.
M Walker of Staffordshire, England, won the award for the shimmering image of the fairy fly, which is actually a tiny wasp measuring only 0.21mm long, or 1/25 the length of the average red ant.
Walker's image triumphed over more than 1500 other images and movies to win USD5000 worth of Olympus equipment.
Now in its fifth year, the Olympus Bioscapes competition honours images and videos of human, plant and animal subjects captured through light microscopes.
Any life science subject is eligible and entries are judged on the science they depict, aesthetics and technical merit.
Other images recognised in this year's competition include one of a cell expressing the protein of the Ebola virus, numerous striking photos of cells and the brain, vibrant botanical images, E.Coli and a fossil diatom.
This year, in addition to prizes 1-10, 70 other images and movies were given honourable mentions.
Twenty of the 2008 winning and honorable-mention images will be displayed in San Francisco at an event on 14 December before beginning a national tour.
Other winning Bioscapes images will form part of an exhibition that will next year tour cities across the US, Canada and South America.
