London, England - On March 15, 2016, Mexican photographer Silvia Andrade (42) was named as the winner of the Mexico National Award, part of world's biggest photography competition, the Sony World Photography Awards.

The Sony World Photography Awards rewards and recognizes the world's best contemporary photography from the last year. Attracting photographers of all abilities, the awards incorporate four competitions: Professional; Open; Youth and Student.

A total of 230,103 images from 186 countries were entered in the 2016 Sony World Photography Awards; the highest number of entries in the awards' nine year history and a 33% increase over 2015. The total number of entries received by the Sony World Photography Awards since its launch in 2007 has now surpassed 1 million images, reinforcing the awards' position as one of the most respected and influential photography competitions in the world.

Andrade's winning image, 'Megacerus Beetle from the botanical Garden Roger Orellana,' was chosen as the single best photograph taken by a Mexican photographer entered into any of the awards' ten Open categories.

Andrade, a technician responsible for the Electron Scanning Microscope at Centro de Investigacion Cientifica de Yucatan, A.C. (CICY), has won a Sony A6000 and a SEL55210 lens. In addition, the winning image will be part of the 2016 Sony World Photography Awards Exhibition at Somerset House, London April 22 - May 8 and will be published in the annual Sony World Photography Awards book.

Silvia's winning photograph is a fascinating macro image of a Megacerus Beetle taken with a microscope.

Talking about her fascinating image, Andrade comments: "A long time ago one of my colleagues wanted to take some images for her research on the Megacerus Beetle, so I began to take photos with the microscope (SEM). This little beetle is part of our great botanical garden, Roger Orellana, in Mérida. The beetles in the Bruchidae Megacerus family becomes between 3 and 5 mm, so it is not always easy to see them with our own eyes. The purpose of my images is to share this hidden and, for most of us, invisible part of nature. It is an invitation to enjoy our gardens, parks, forests, and especially the botanical gardens, through scientific imagery to enjoy, appreciate, respect and love nature."

Talking about her win, Andrade continues: "Being part of the Sony World Photography Awards is a dream! Thousand of great and talented photographers participate each year. This is an amazing way to share our love for photography and nature! For me, the best expression of love is in nature; being able to see those small moments of joy in a flower, insect or fungus."

The Runner up position for the Mexico National Award was given to Razi Machay.

The National Awards program honors and rewards the best single image taken by a local photographer and runs in 60 countries across the world from Argentina to Australia. It is open to photographers of all abilities.