Every year, Nikon runs its annual Small World Photomicrography competition which celebrates photography that inspects that world at a scale not visible to the human eye, i.e. through a magnifying glass or microscope.

Sometimes bigger definitely isn’t better. Check out the 2016 finalists for the Nikon Small World Photomicrography competition below.

As technology progresses, the comp gets more and more fascinating and 2016 – its 42nd year straight – is no exception.

Many of the shots examine the natural world in a way that is difficult to even imagine. Amongst the finalists you’ll see images of centipede fangs, dragonfly larva and the embryo of a zebrafish, plus a melange of other weird and wonderful macro oddities. Check out some below!

Check out all of the finalists here.

Also have a look at these photos of Australia form space that we turned into Tame Impala album covers.