2010: Behaviour: All Other Animals - Highly Commended
David Herasimtschuk (United States of America)
In the eye of a tapir
Many nights spent hiking to swamps and lakes in Ecuador in search of frogs (his research subject) have revealed to David countless new animals and behaviours. Particularly fascinating are the lachryphagous (eye-frequenting) moths. The tapir that this moth is drinking from had been rescued as a baby and released back into the wild. So it was used to humans and allowed David to follow it through the forest. 'Whenever it stopped to eat or rest,' he says, 'as many as five or six moths would settle around an eye.' These moths have evolved to feed on secretions from mammal eyes and, in this case, may even prefer to drink from the eyes of tapirs.
Canon EOS 5D + EF 17-40mm f4 lens; 1/40 sec at f13; ISO 400; Speedlite 580EX flash + transmitter ST-E2.
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Adult awards March of the crabs Pascal Kobeh
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Adult awards Flight of the rays Florian Schulz
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Adult awards The ant-shepherd and its little flock Matt Cole
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Adult awards A miracle of monarchs Axel Gomille
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