The 2016 winners of the IPPC photo contest 'The Shocking Impacts of Pests'

The winner of the 2016 IPPC Photo Contest The Shocking Impacts of Pests is Tyler Fox, from the United States of America. The beautiful photo depicts slug-like sawfly larvae (Tenthredinidae: Caliroa pb. nyssae) feeding on black gum leaf (Nyssa sylvatica), a deciduous tree native to Eastern North-America. This sawfly is often gregarious and skeletonizes the bottoms of black gum leaves as it feeds, and defoliates trees. Many species of sawfly are major pests of forest plants, ornamental trees and shrubs.

The second winner of this year IPPC photo contest is Sabine Perrone, from Australia, with her stunning photo of locusts in Madagascar. Locust plagues are regular events in Madagascar and threaten the livelihoods of millions of people every year. Swarms of over 1 billion Malagasy migratory locust (Locusta migratoria capito) occur when conditions are right and spraying programs fail to keep the breeding population under control.

The third winner is Pia Scanlon from Australia, with her macro photo of a female Mediterranean fruit fly (Ceratitis capitata) on a mango. The Mediterranean fruit fly is a formidable pest in many areas of the world and is known to infest over 200 fruit and vegetable species.

Pests have huge detrimental economic, agricultural, environmental and social impacts. They can spread around the world through natural means and with human assistance through international trade or intentionally or unintentionally via tourism.

The International Plant Protection Convention promotes cooperation among its 182 members to prevent the introduction and spread of pests via trade and other means. The IPPC Secretariat thanks all contributors whose photographs will be further used to raise awareness on pests and their impacts. These photos will be used in future IPPC materials, and NPPOs are also warmly invited to use them. The IPPC Secretariat also thanks the National Geographic which was part of the jury, and who will promote the winning photos again this year.

Do your part to prevent the shocking impact of pests!

Do not transport plants and plant products without authorisation, declare them!