A groundbreaking digital repository known as Antscan now offers unprecedented, high-resolution 3D visualizations of ant anatomy, revealing details that were previously invisible to the naked eye. This initiative, described in a new paper in Nature Methods, provides a comprehensive dataset covering two-thirds of all ant genera, representing approximately 90% of ant species. The project transforms how scientists, artists, and educators study these insects by combining x-ray imaging, robotics, and advanced computing. The vision for Antscan began in 2019 when evolutionary biologist Evan Economo and entomologist Julian Katzke aimed to scan 200 ant species using microtomography. While their initial equipment allowed for detailed imaging, the process was prohibitively slow, requiring 10 to 15 hours per specimen. Their ambitions expanded significantly after collaborating with Thomas van de Kamp, who operated a synchrotron micro-CT facility at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany. Unlike standard hospital CT scanners, this particle accelerator generates a concentrated beam of photons capable of capturing thousands of images in mere seconds. Equipped with a robotic specimen handling system and high-speed cameras, the facility reduced the scanning time for a single ant to just 30 seconds, eliminating the previous technical bottleneck. To fuel this rapid scanning capability, the team gathered hundreds of specimens from museums and laboratories worldwide. The resulting collection includes rare species, such as a Congo ant with bee-like eyes, the painful-stinging Brazilian bullet ant, and the Korean "Dracula ant," which feeds on larvae. In total, the project has produced detailed 3D files for nearly 2,200 individual ants across 212 genera. Kory Evans, an evolutionary biologist at Rice University who specializes in high-resolution imaging but was not involved in the study, called the repository "insane," noting it serves as a vital one-stop shop for the scientific community. The data is already yielding significant biological insights. In a 2025 paper published in Science Advances, Economo and colleagues used the repository to discover a correlation between exoskeleton thickness and colony size. Their findings suggest that some species evolve to prioritize the quantity of individual workers over their individual durability, leading to larger, more complex colonies. Beyond academia, Antscan is proving useful in diverse fields. Andy Suarez, an entomologist at the University of Illinois, views the public availability of these scans as a major asset for comparative morphology research, particularly for studying specialized structures like the mandibles of trap-jaw ants. Furthermore, the images are finding applications in digital art and education. Daniel Ksepka, a curator at the Bruce Museum in Connecticut, utilized the files to 3D-print enlarged ant heads for a new exhibition, allowing visitors to appreciate the remarkable complexity of ant morphology. While the repository does not replace electron microscopes for studying sub-cellular structures like individual neurons, Daniel Kronauer of Rockefeller University emphasizes that it democratizes access to high-level data. Researchers no longer need direct access to physical museum collections to conduct advanced anatomical studies. Economo acknowledges that automated segmentation of the 3D parts, such as isolating eyes or antennae, still requires manual effort. However, the team aims to scale the project to digitize hundreds of thousands of invertebrate species, effectively bringing the microscopic world of small organisms into the digital realm for global exploration.