Scientists Create Digital Library of Thousands of 3D Ant Scans

The Antscan project used a synchrotron particle accelerator to capture detailed anatomical data on over 2,000 ant specimens.

Published on Mar. 5, 2026

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Researchers have created a comprehensive digital library of over 2,000 3D scans of ants, using a particle accelerator to capture detailed anatomical data on a wide range of ant species. The Antscan project aims to provide an open-source resource for studying ant biodiversity and evolution.

Why it matters

Ants are one of the most abundant and diverse groups of insects, with over 20 quadrillion individuals worldwide. This digital library gives scientists an unprecedented look at ant anatomy and behavior, which could lead to new discoveries about the evolution and ecological roles of these 'little things that run the world'.

The details

The Antscan project gathered ant specimens from museums and personal collections around the world, representing over 90% of all described ant species. Instead of traditional CT scans, they used a synchrotron particle accelerator to quickly capture high-resolution 3D images of the ants' exoskeletons, muscles, nervous systems, and even internal parasites. This yielded over 3,000 x-ray images per specimen, resulting in detailed anatomical models that are now freely available in an open-source digital library.

  • The Antscan study was published in the journal Nature Methods on March 5, 2026.

The players

Evan Economo

A senior author of the Antscan study and an entomologist at the University of Maryland, College Park.

Julian Katzke

A lead author of the Antscan study and a postdoctoral fellow at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History.

Antscan

A digital library of over 2,000 3D scans of ants, created by researchers using a synchrotron particle accelerator.

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What they’re saying

“We're just at the beginning of even looking at the data. There's many other things you could do with the project, and I'm sure there are really amazing things in there that people will dig out.”

— Evan Economo, Entomologist, University of Maryland, College Park (Scientific American)

“We were happy that we could process all of the specimens, but it took months until we saw the first results, and that's when you really start to realize the scale of what you have accomplished.”

— Julian Katzke, Postdoctoral Fellow, Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History (Scientific American)

What’s next

Researchers plan to continue analyzing the wealth of data in the Antscan digital library, which could lead to new discoveries about ant anatomy, behavior, and evolution. The project also serves as a model for similar digitization efforts focused on other insect species.

The takeaway

The Antscan project demonstrates how advanced imaging technologies like synchrotron particle accelerators can be leveraged to rapidly create comprehensive digital libraries of biodiversity, providing scientists with an unprecedented window into the hidden world of insects and other small organisms that are critical to the functioning of ecosystems.