The Big Bug Hunt Video Clip Competition is running for a second season during summer and autumn/fall 2023.

We're looking for high-quality short clips (20 seconds max) of bugs in your garden and the organic methods to control them. Video clips need to be:

1. Taken in landscape orientation at the highest quality your camera or phone can be set to.
2. Steady video without the camera or phone moving. Using a tripod is ideal but leaning against a solid object or support will also work.
3. As close as possible to the bugs (or plant if filming bug damage) without them becoming blurry.
4. No narration - just the background sounds of your garden will be fine!

Please see our How to Submit section for competition details and how to send us your video clips. All clips used by us will be awarded prizes of between $10 and $50 depending on quality and usefulness. You can enter many different clips and have the chance to be awarded multiple prizes.

Clips Needed

Brown Marmorated Stink Bug [USA/Canada] US/CA Guide

• Video clips of the nymph stages, the eggs and the adults
• Smashing of nymphs when seen on corn
• Any eggs (like small barrels) found on the undersides of leaves being smashed
• Collecting adults in jars of warm soapy water in the fall. Pheromone traps for young ones

Plum curculio [USA/Canada] US/CA Guide

• Any adult insects and any damage of blossoms/ blooms/ immature fruits of the plum trees
• Crescent shaped scar in the plum fruit where the female has laid eggs
• Any plums or soft fruit infected with fungus after the curculios have pierced the fruit skin
• Drowning collected curculios in water

Spotted Lantern Fly [USA] US/CA Guide

• Videos of egg masses or scraping off the egg masses
• Any video clips of smashing the nymphs or the adults and any videos of any damage that they have done to the trees
• Any mould or honeydew that is present after feeding by the adults
• Vacuuming up the adult flies

Leaf footed bug [US/Canada] US/CA Guide

• Video clips of the bright orange nymphs
• Damage to fruits by leaf footed bugs
• Videos of the adults. Clips of adults on thistles their preferred host plant
• Hand picking / brushing the nymphs into soapy water
• Collecting adults that come inside

Box Tree Moth US/CA Guide UK/Europe Guide

• Clips of caterpillars on the box.
• Damage to the box leaves
• Clips of treating new boxwoods with a Bacillus thruingiensis-based organic pesticide if any leaves show feeding damage
• Any clips of caterpillar removal by wrapping the end of a stick with outward-facing tape and use it to loosen and gather actively feeding caterpillars by swirling up webbing with the sticky end

Beneficial Insects

Mason bee [USA/Canada]

• Any clips of orchard/ blue orchard bees/ mason bees

Tachinid fly US/CA Guide

• Any clips of tachinid flies

Hornets US/CA Guide

• Any clips of hornets

How to Submit Your Video

Video clips can be sent by Smash or WeTransfer.com to
videocompetition (at) bigbughunt.com (please replace '(at)' with the @ symbol).
By submitting video, you agree to the Competition Rules below.

Please include the following in your Smash or WeTransfer message:

• The name of the bug you have filmed and a brief description of the video clip(s)
• Your full name and address
• The email address at which you can receive PayPal payment, should your entry be selected for use.

Competition Rules

1. This competition is run by Growing Interactive Limited (hereafter referred to as the Sponsor), a UK-based company which provides garden planning software and websites and which runs The Big Bug Hunt international citizen science project. The Sponsor's privacy policy is linked at the bottom of this page.
2. The competition runs from April 2023 to the end of the year. Entrants should check this page regularly to make sure that video clips they submit are on the 'Clips Needed' list. Once sufficient clips have been obtained for each bug, that item will be removed from this page and further submissions will not be eligible for consideration.
3. Anyone is eligible to enter this competition, may do so multiple times and may be eligible for multiple payments for separate video clips. Employees of the Sponsor and their families, suppliers of the Sponsor and other associates are not eligible to receive payments.
4. Entries will be judged by the team responsible for video production at the Sponsor. Payment will be made for any entries which are used in the production of a video either shortly after entry or which may be used in the future. Payments will range between US$10 and US$50 per video clip, depending on length, usefulness, uniqueness and quality of the video. The distribution of payments will depend on the quantity and quality of submitted content. The Sponsor intends to pay at least three top payments ($50) and a selection of lower payments in consideration of the criteria listed above. In total the Sponsor expects to award at least 100 payments if sufficient video to cover all Clips Needed is submitted and quite probably significantly more than that. The judges decision will be final in determining which clips are used (and paid for) and what value is paid for each clip.
5. As well as payments for video clips used, the Sponsor may also at its sole discretion, choose to designate awards for best clips in certain categories. Such awards will be announced through the Sponsor's social media channels and/or The Big Bug Hunt website and email newsletters, and winning entrants will be acknowledged.
6. By submitting video to this competition, you agree to abide by these competition rules and accept the decisions of the Sponsor as final and binding. You may notify us by email that you wish to remove video clip(s) from entry at any point before the final allocation of prize payments has been made.
7. By entering the competition all entrants grant to the Sponsor the right to publish and use their video clips on the internet, including but not limited to YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and other social media as well as on any websites or apps created by the Sponsor. No fees will be payable for any of the above uses beyond the initial competition payment. Use of the video clips will not include entrants' names as we intend to combine many clips into videos that help instruct gardeners without the distraction of accreditation.
8. All entries must be the original work of the entrant and must not infringe the rights of any other party. The entrants must be the sole owner of copyright in all video clips entered and must have obtained permission of any people featured in the entries or their parents/guardians if children under 16 are featured. Further, entrants must not have breached any laws when taking their video clips.
9. Entries should be submitted according to the instructions given in the 'How to Submit Your Video' section above. The Sponsor will not be obliged to acknowledge submissions and cannot be held liable for any submissions not received.
10. Payment will be made by PayPal in US dollars. If your account is in a different currency, PayPal will convert this to your own currency at the current exchange rate. By entering you acknowledge that you are able to receive payment via PayPal or that you are happy to forego payment and still grant the Sponsor the rights of use of the video clips as set out above.
11. The Sponsor reserves the right to cancel this competition or alter any of the rules at any stage, if deemed necessary in its opinion, and if circumstances arise outside of its control.
12. If any entrant is unable to be contacted after reasonable attempts have been made, the Sponsor reserves the right to use the submitted video clip without payment. If the entrant subsequently contacts the sponsor up to 12 months after the material was submitted, payment will still be made.
13. These rules are governed by the laws of England and Wales. This competition is administered by Growing Interactive Limited. You may contact us via our Contact page.

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