Using powerful X-ray beams, automated robotics, and AI, entomologists created interactive digital images representing 792 species of ants in 212 genera.
An exemplary Antscan specimen rendering: Eshiton Hamatum. Image credit: Katsuke others., doi: 10.1038/s41592-026-03005-0.
To build such a large digital library, Okinawa University of Science and Technology researcher Julian Katzke and his colleagues sourced ethanol-preserved ant specimens from partner institutions, museum collections, and experts around the world.
After the researchers sorted the specimens by species and class, they took them to the lab. Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) provides high-throughput X-ray micro-CT scanning in Germany. This is comparable to a medical CT scan, but with much higher magnification.
A synchrotron particle accelerator produced a high-intensity X-ray beam to quickly scan the huge number of samples, and a robotic sample changer rotated every 30 seconds to change samples.
This enabled the creation of 2D image stacks that could be used to build 3D models.
Although the raw image files were useful, they depicted the ant specimens in distorted positions. This was far from the life-like model scientists had hoped to build.
3D images reveal the internal structures of muscles, nervous systems, digestive systems, needles, and more with micrometer resolution.
Models can be easily animated or incorporated into virtual reality worlds for research, education, and entertainment.
“We estimate that if we were to perform this project using a laboratory-based CT scanner, it would require six years of continuous operation,” Dr. Katzke said.
“With the KIT setup, we scanned 2,000 specimens in one week.”
Professor Evan Economo, a researcher at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University and the University of Maryland, added: “It would take years to do this manually. So without these computational tools, we basically would never have been able to do it.”
dubbing antz scanthis project could serve as a blueprint for future digitization efforts for a variety of species, not just ants.
“The value of this research is not just about ants; it’s much broader,” Professor Economo said.
“Once specimens are digitized, we can build libraries that can streamline the use of living things from science labs to classrooms to Hollywood studios.”
team’s work Published in today’s magazine nature method.
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J. Katsuke others. High-throughput phenomics of global ant biodiversity. Nat methodpublished online March 5, 2026. doi: 10.1038/s41592-026-03005-0