ICA 2026

1^st Gary Bauchan Acari Photo & Illustration Competition

ORGANIZING COMMITTEE

• Denise NAVIA
• Francisco FERRAGUT
• Elizeu de CASTRO
• Thais Juliane do PRADO

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RULES AND INSTRUCTIONS

1. Eligibility and Participation Requirements

• Authors must be registered participants of the XVII International Congress of Acarology (ICA) and have paid the registration fee;
• The competition is open to amateur photographers only. Professional photographers—defined as those who earn income from photography—are not eligible;
• The submission deadline is the same as the abstract submission deadline: 28 February 2026;
• The competition includes three categories:
  • 1. Macrophotography (natural, magnifying lens, or stereomicroscope)
  • 2. Micrography (optical, confocal, or electron microscopy)
  • 3. Scientific Illustration

• Authors may submit up to two images per category;
• Each image requires a separate submission online form, including the title and a short description (2–3 lines) specifying: taxon, developmental stage, host/substrate and/or ecological context, locality, date. For the categories macrophotography and micrography, magnification, and optical technique should also be informed;
• Submitted image should be named with ‘author family name_category abbreviated as macro, micro, or illus+N^o of submission per category_first two words of the work title’, e.g. ‘Navia_micro1_coollife’.

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2. Image Requirements

• Submitted photographs or illustrations must feature Acari specimens (any life stage—from egg to adult—or special forms such as hypopus, protogynes, or deutogynes), as well as associated symptoms from any region of the world;
• Accepted file formats: JPG, JPEG, TIFF, PNG;
• Maximum file size: 15 MB;
• Minimum resolution: 300 dpi. The organizing committee may request a higher-resolution version suitable for large size printing for works;
• Images must not include watermarks, borders, signatures, or similar elements;
• Both color and black-and-white images are permitted;
• Permitted digital adjustments: minor corrections that preserve the integrity of the image (e.g., exposure, contrast, sharpness, white balance);

• Images must represent authentic, unaltered biological observations.

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3. Intellectual Property Rights

• The author must be the original creator of the image and must hold full copyright and all related property rights to the submitted images;
• Submitted images must not be licensed, published in stock libraries, or associated with rights that could conflict with participation in this competition. Images that have gained substantial publicity through stock platforms may be disqualified;
• Authors retain full copyright of their images but grant the XVII ICA permission to display them during the Congress, in the competition social media (Instagram), and also in large public vulgarisation events (e.g. open expositions in botanical gardens);
• Authors are responsible for handling any claims made by third parties concerning copyright infringement. They agree to exempt the XVII ICA from liability regarding such claims.

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4. Judging and Awards

• Images will be evaluated based on their technical quality (focus, clarity, exposure, contrast), composition, and their effectiveness in conveying Acari diversity, morphology, and/or behavior;
• In each category, the committee will award the top three positions;
• Selection of winning works will be based on (i) registered congress participants voting; and on (ii) a public voting through social media (Instagram), in order to engage the wider scientific community and also general public.
  • i) Each registered participant may vote for up to three entries per category. Authors may not vote in categories in which they have submitted entries;
  • ii) All accepted submissions will be published on a dedicated Instagram account created exclusively for the contest, separate from the official congress account used for general announcements. Public appreciation will be measured by the number of “likes” received on Instagram. In each category, the three submissions with the highest number of likes will receive additional points, which will be added to the scores obtained from the votes of congress participants, as follows:
    1^st most liked submission: +15 points (equivalent to 15 votes from congress participants); 2^nd most liked photo: +10 points; 3^rd most liked photo: +5 points. These additional points will contribute to the final ranking in each category.
• Awards will be publicly announced during the Congress Closing Ceremony;
• Winners will receive an official certificate and an award (to be determined by the Organizing Committee).

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5. General Conditions

• The Organizing Committee is not responsible for failed or delayed submissions due to equipment malfunction, technical errors, network or server issues, or any other cause;
• By submitting an image, authors confirm their acceptance of all competition rules and conditions.

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APPLICATION FOR THE COMPETITION

Application Form