Horrifying close-up photo of an ant is the stuff of nightmares

Creepy-crawlies with a menacing bite that can trigger an insatiable itch, ants are the stuff of nightmares for many people. A close-up image of one of these pint-size terrors from Nikon's Small World Photomicrography Competition 2022 is eliciting a horrified response that has spread across the internet like venom through the lymphatic system. 

Eugenijus Kavaliauskas, a Lithuanian photographer, captured the horrific sight, which earned him an "Images of Distinction" nod from the judges. Appropriately titled "Ant (Camponotus)," the image was captured by magnifying the ant's alien-like face five times under a stereo 10x microscope. Kavaliauskas called it an example of "God's designs and the many interesting, beautiful, unknown miracles under people's feet," according to The Washington Post.

So, what makes this zoomed-in image so frightening? Perhaps it's the insect's antennae, which look eerily similar to a demon's piercing red eyes. Or maybe it's the insect's razor-sharp teeth built to pierce its victim's flesh with a single bite.

Related: Trap-jaw ants' lightning-fast bite should rip their heads apart. Here's why it doesn't.

The creepy image isn't the only scary thing about ants. Entomologists have documented ants morphing into zombies after coming into contact with mind-controlling parasites, vomiting into each other’s mouths to form social bonds and queens willingly sacrificing themselves as a way to retain the throne.

The ant image wasn't the only one that caught the judges' attention. Other spooky snaps that earned awards included a tiger beetle devouring a fly, a hulking blob of slime and a psychedelic image of a stained dinosaur bone.