Feel like hanging round for dinner?

THESE are the awe-inspiring images that have enchanted judges of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition.

A handful of photos captured by talented Aussie snappers took first place in several categories of the prestigious contest, run by Britain’s Natural History Museum.

The powerful images frame wildlife photography as an art form, challenging viewers to consider their place in the natural world. And out of 45,000 entries from 95 countries, one emerged as the king of the jungle.

Caught taking some time out from monkeying around, Dutch photographer Marsel van Oosten won the competition after capturing a pair of Qinling golden snub-nosed monkeys, pictured right.

Chair of the judging panel Roz Kidman Cox sung praise for the striking portrait.

“It is an artwork worthy of hanging in any gallery in the world,” Ms Cox said.

While sure to startle arachnophobes, Australian Robert Irwin, the son of crocodile hunter Steve Irwin, was highly commended in the 11-14 years category after catching a huntsman spider ripping into an unfortunate frog.

Robert stumbled across the handsized huntsman mauling its prey in a remote swamp in far north Queensland’s Cape York Peninsula.

It’s thought the frog’s struggling might have knocked the grumpy spider off balance, and her silk anchor