A revolutionary new platform, Antscan, is making it easier than ever for researchers and amateur entomologists alike to dive into the complex and fascinating world of ants. Antscan was created by a team led by Evan Economo and Julian Katzke. It includes high-quality 3D reconstructions of over 2,200 preserved ant specimens. This dynamic new tool invites users to digitally cut apart and view all of the anatomical features of ants in incredible detail.
Antscan’s creation involved meticulous scanning of specimens at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology’s synchrotron light source facility in Germany. The ultra high-resolution images created from these scans resulted in an incredible 200-plus terabytes of data. The online platform is a perfect venue for recreating the colorful, armored exoskeletons, or cuticles, of ants. It uncovers their muscles, nerves, digestive tracts, and even needle-like stingers. With the use of neural networks to automate the identification and analysis of these anatomical structures, Antscan makes the research process a lot more efficient.
A Treasure Trove of Data
Antscan is a tonic antidote, contributing an irreplaceable and wonderful resource for ant diversity, providing tactual-acoustic scans of 792 species representing 212 genera. This rich dataset stands as a snapshot of global ant diversity. It is an invaluable resource used by scientists, educators, and artists.
Julian Katzke emphasizes the breadth of applications this dataset can serve:
“It is an extremely rich dataset that can be used for a number of different applications in science, but also for the arts and outreach and education.”
This huge set of models, which users can manipulate, rotate, zoom, examine, on three-dimensional models right from their laptops. It provides an amazing opportunity to learn about these insects without having to rely on physical specimens.
The potential of Antscan goes far beyond and outside observation. Its creators hope that it will catalyze a shift in morphology research similar to that which large-scale sequencing projects brought to the study of DNA. Evan Economo refers to the dataset as a comprehensive resource for understanding shape:
“This is kind of like having a genome for shape.”
Advanced Imaging Techniques
Antscan takes rapid, high-resolution images with synchrotron micro-CT technology. This gives researchers the unique ability to virtually peel back layers of fragile specimens without the destructive impact of a dissection. This technique has proven to be especially critical in elucidating deep-seated anatomical structures not otherwise visible.
What these scans show is the truly amazing feature underneath—the biomineral “armor” layer. In fact, scientists only recently discovered this layer, in a Central American leaf-cutter ant, in 2020. This armor layer is characteristic of fungus-farming ants. You can’t say that in nearly all other lineages in the ant family tree. Those kinds of discoveries remind us of the kinds of new biological insights Antscan may be able to turn up.
“The full advantage of this dataset will be realized when these methods are deployed.”
This innovative potential to visualize, analyze, and interact with detailed 3D complicated anatomical structures represents an exciting new frontier for research in entomology and beyond.
Implications for Future Research
With Antscan, the life’s complexity is revealed in exquisite detail. It produces a permanent anatomical time capsule, enabling us to continue studying these records long after fragile specimens have perished or vibrant wild populations have vanished. In addition to documenting and archiving essential information, the platform helps facilitate new collaborations between scientists and researchers.
The collaborative possibilities of Antscan are enormous, Antscan can serve as a platform for building resources across multiple disciplines outside of biology. Evan Economo envisions future applications in robotics and engineering:
“The more people that access and work with the stuff in our museums, whether it’s physically or digitally, the greater value they add.”
Researchers have, rightfully, jumped at the chance to analyze this treasure trove of new data. Plus they might identify new species and find all sorts of new uses based on ant physiology!
“I would really like to see these big libraries of organismal form one day be useful for people in robotics and engineering, so they can mine these data for new kinds of biomechanical designs.”
As researchers begin to explore this wealth of data, they may uncover not only new species but also innovative applications inspired by ant anatomy.