Spiders strike many people as creepy when seen with the naked eye. Under a microscope, the effect is far more dramatic.
This photo a female lynx spider took 14th place in the Nikon contest.
Even fewer people are cool with lice — especially when they cling to strands of hair, as this one is.
Head lice feed on blood from the human scalp. (Feeling itchy yet?)
Another common pest — the biting house fly — looks downright alien under a microscope.
One day, these orb-shaped egg chambers will sprout fully formed fruit flies ready to haunt your kitchen and your dreams.
This is what the silverfish that you might find in your bathroom look like up close. If one of those antennae falls off, the insect can grow it back.
Underwater creatures can be even creepier under the microscope. This sea-dwelling eunicid worm has five antennae.
This fluorescent skeleton of a fangtooth fish is the stuff of nightmares.
The skull of a longnose gar fish looks straight out of Beetlejuice.
Even the name of the phantom midge makes it seem spooky. This creature (the photo below shows its larva), is also known as a glassworm and lives in lakes all over the world. Its claw-like appendage unfurls to catch tiny prey.
Baby dung beetles aren't so cute, either. One day, the compact wrinkles in this embryo will become spiky black legs and a pair of long horns.
Spider legs, meanwhile, look quite hairy up close. White hairs on this tiny spider surround multiple pairs of black eyes.
This photo took sixth place in Nikon's contest.
But bugs and other tiny creatures aren't the only beings that look creepy up close. These tangled fibers are human neurons; you have billions of them inside your brain.
