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Step into the spotlight with The Antlion Pit — where bold ideas take flight!
This thrilling competition gives ESA members a powerful platform to unleash their creativity and bring entomology-inspired innovations to life. Whether it’s cutting-edge technology, game-changing services, groundbreaking products, or transformative social initiatives, The Antlion Pit is your launchpad. Fuel your entrepreneurial spirit through dynamic leadership, inspired collaboration, expert mentorship, and the excitement of real-world innovation.
SUBMIT BY AUGUST 21
Competition Information
To ensure a dynamic and competitive event, ESA requires a minimum of three teams to compete on-site at the Annual Meeting. If this threshold is not met, the competition will not take place in 2025.
The Antlion Pit Competition will take place in-person during the ESA Annual Meeting in Portland, Oregon in two stages. Teams will be expected to be present at both events.
Monday, November 10 (Time TBD)
Stage I – Antlion Pit Competition Demonstration Day – Teams will participate in a two-hour informal interactive “exhibit hall” style event where they will present their ideas and prototypes to judges and interested meeting registrants. Each team will be given access to a table, floor space, and electricity in the Exhibit Hall for the demonstrations. At least one ESA member on the team must be present during the Antlion Pit Competition Demonstration Day.
Monday, November 10 (Time TBD)
Stage II – Antlion Pit Competition Presentation Pitch – Teams will be given five minutes to present their pitch, followed by eight minutes of questions from judges and the audience. A maximum of two individuals may be on stage to present, one of whom must be an ESA member. Each team should plan to attend the entire event. Teams will be able to upload their presentations in the Presentation Preview Room and are encouraged to bring prototypes, final designs, and/or presentation props as needed.
Cash Prizes and Awards
First and Second place prizes will be awarded on-site at the conclusion of the session.
First Place: $5,000
Runner Up: $2,000
Our heartfelt thanks to Nan-Yao Su and Pam Marrone for their generous financial support of the competition.
The winning presentation will also have the opportunity to write a blog post on Entomology Today about their innovation and/or product.
Entry Rules
Previous winners of Antlion Pit are eligible to participate; however, they must submit a different venture idea or show significant differentiation of their past submission. Past participants can submit new ventures or resubmit their previous ventures; however, it is recommended that they seek to polish and improve their previous materials and pitch to have the best chance of success.
Deadline and Deliverables
Deadline to submit - August 21
All deliverables are due on the same date to be considered for the finals at the Annual Meeting. If more than six teams submit, judges will review the materials and choose up to six finalists. Teams will be notified by September 15 if they are selected to present in the finals. See below for the list of required deliverables.
- Name of the Team
- Name of all the Team Members and ESA Membership Status
- Description of idea or product
- Acknowledgment that each listed team member will be required to complete a signed Antlion Pit Competition Participant Acknowledgment and Agreement Form. The signed copy is not required at the time of submission.
- Written venture summary.
- A PowerPoint of up to 10 slides, or a video that is no more than 5 minutes in length, that provides an overview of the problem, solution, prototype, and testing. Include as many of the following components as possible (see webinar links below for more information):
- Problem statement, including results from need finding and benchmarking and a user persona.
- The conceptual design of the proposed solution, and possibly ideas that were considered during the ideation phase of the design process.
- Description of the prototype and results of critical function experiments.
- Feedback about the prototype from users.
- Proposal on how the money would be spent if awarded.
For any questions regarding the Antlion Pit Competition, please contact Dr. Marianne Alleyne
Team Resources
2023 Results
First Place: Insect Eavesdropper, Emily Bick, Ph.D., BCE-Intern, and Dev Mehrotra - View the Entomology Today article
2019 Results
First Place: LeafByte, Zoe Getman-Pickering - View the presentation
Second Place: Matson Trap, Tanner Matson - View the presentation
Audience Favorite: Matson Trap, Tanner Matson - View the presentation