Scientists created a digital library full of ants

A particle accelerator typically used for physics research has become an unlikely tool for cataloging the natural world, creating detailed 3D scans of more than 2,000 ants in mere seconds each. The Antscan project harnessed synchrotron technology at Germany's Karlsruhe Institute of Technology to peer inside specimens from 212 different genera, representing over 90 percent of all described ant species.

Each lightning-fast scan generated about 3,000 x-ray images, revealing not just exoskeletons but internal structures like muscles, nervous systems, and digestive tracts. Some scans even captured parasites and previously unknown anatomical features hidden within the tiny bodies.

"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," says Julian Katzke, one of the study's lead authors.

The digital library is now publicly available, offering researchers unprecedented access to ant anatomy data. The project could serve as a blueprint for similar efforts across the insect world, potentially accelerating biodiversity research for Earth's most abundant creatures.