Every year, the ESA World of Insects Calendar showcases the stunning beauty of insects and related arthropods through striking, world-class photography.
Photographs are selected by the ESA Committee on the Insect Calendar and must be of the highest aesthetic and technical quality. A call for photos is announced early in the year for the following year's calendar, which is published each year in November.
New: In 2021, ESA launched a weekly "Arthropod Photo of the Week" feature on social media, for which submitted photos may also be considered. Follow along with "Arthropod Photo of the Week" via the #arthropodPOTW hashtag on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Call for Photos: OPEN
Deadline for submissions: May 4, 2023
The photo submission period for the 2024 World of Insects Calendar is currently open. ESA seeks the finest examples of insect photography for inclusion in the next edition of the World of Insects Calendar, as well as for potential use in "Arthropod Photo of the Week" on social media. Submissions are now being accepted.
ESA invites photographers of all backgrounds, areas of expertise, career stage, and geographical location to submit photos. No entomological training or expertise is required, and you do not need to be an ESA member to enter.
Submit Photos for the 2024 World of Insects Calendar
Entry Guidelines
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Natural setting: Photos must be of living insects in natural-appearing settings. Photos of insects that are mounted or fossilized will not be accepted.
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Biodiversity: Insects and related arthropods (arachnids, myriapods, entognathids) are welcome; however, a maximum of one (1) non-insect image will be chosen for the calendar.
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Quantity: A maximum of five (5) photos may be submitted by a single photographer. No more than one (1) image from any individual photographer will be published in the feature-image (full-page) area of the calendar.
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Variety: Photographers are encouraged to submit photos of a variety of insect subjects. Submitting multiple shots of the same insect is discouraged.
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Orientation: Photos must be horizontal and rectangular to be considered for feature-image (full-page) placement in the calendar. (The calendar page size is 11 inches wide by 8.5 inches high.) Vertical or square photos may be considered for alternate placements, but horizontal and rectangular photos are preferred.
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File size and resolution: Photos submitted for judging may not exceed 10 MB in file size. To be considered for feature (full-page) placement, photos must be at least 3,300 pixels wide by 2,550 pixels high (i.e., 11 inches by 8.5 inches at 300 pixels per inch).
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File type: Photo files must be in JPG, JPEG, or PNG format (or these formats enclosed in a ZIP file).
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File names: Please include either an insect common name (e.g., honey bee) or species name (e.g., Apis mellifera) in each image filename. If you are unsure of the insect identification, please name the file with a general name (e.g., bee, ant). Do not submit photos with generic numbered file names (e.g. IMG_1234). If you are submitting via a mobile device and are unable to rename files, please switch to submit via a desktop or other platform that allows you to rename files.
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Anonymization: Please remove all personally identifying information from both your images (e.g. watermarks or text overlays) and their filenames. Images will be matched to each entrant by ESA staff but provided to the judging committee anonymously.
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Deadline: Photos must be submitted via the World of Insects Calendar Photo Submission Form by 11:59 p.m. U.S. Eastern Time on May 4, 2023.
Judging
Photos are evaluated by the ESA Committee on the World of Insects Calendar via a blind judging system so that no photographer names or other identifying information is known to the judges. Fourteen (14) images are selected for feature-placement in the calendar (12 months plus inside front cover and back cover). Twenty-four (24) images are selected for smaller placement on month-grid pages (two per month). Judging criteria include composition, color, and clarity, as well as entomological appeal.
If Your Photo is Selected
Winning photographers will be asked to:
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Provide a print-quality version of the winning photo; for feature-placement images, the required resolution will be at least 3,300 pixels wide by 2,550 pixels high (i.e., 11 inches by 8.5 inches at 300 pixels per inch).
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Grant ESA permission to publish their photos in the calendar as well as on the ESA website and social media for the purposes of promoting the calendar. In all uses, photographers will be credited by name.
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Optional: For feature-placement images, write a concise paragraph to accompany the photograph in the calendar on the biology of the species or genus/family. (ESA staff and volunteers will write photo descriptions for photographers who do not feel adequately knowledgeable about the subject of their photos).
Entrants whose photos are selected for the calendar will be notified in July 2023. Photos not selected for the 2024 calendar may be considered for inclusion in "Arthropod Photo of the Week" as well as for future use on the cover of one of ESA's scientific journals. In either case, the photographer would be contacted to request permission for such use.
Questions
For questions regarding the World of Insects Calendar, please contact Irene Nudd, ESA publications coordinator, at inudd@entsoc.org, or Joe Rominiecki, ESA manager of communications, at jrominiecki@entsoc.org.
Submit Photos for the 2024 World of Insects Calendar
2023 Calendar: Order Now
2023 World of Insects Calendar: Order Now
For the 2023 calendar, more than 675 photos entries were submitted from more than 170 photographers from around the globe. The 2023 cover photo features a yellow false-leaf katydid Orophus tessellatus, by David Turell of Durham, New Hampshire, USA.
The 2023 World of Insects Calendar is available for purchase online. All proceeds from sales of the World of Insects Calendar directly benefit ESA's Chrysalis Fund, which fosters the future of entomology through grants for programs that teach kids about insect science. Learn more about the Chrysalis Fund.
