Microscopic photographs of insects, flower stems and young sea creatures have been released as part of the Nikon Small World competition.
This year's first prize went to Estonian Dr Heiti Paves, who took a stunning picture of a flowering plant anther — the male "sex organ" on a plant.
Most photographs have some sort of biological or geological background. Two of this year's entries including snaps of aquatic larva and zebra fish.
The contest is in its 35th year.
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