[Posted by Chuck Almdale, submitted by Elizabeth Galton]

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Ants are a lot of things. They’re nearly everywhere you look. They’re abundant — at least 20 quadrillion at last estimate. Some wreak havoc. Some are just weird. And many are crucial to the health of their environments.

“They have interesting social structures and complex societies,” added Evan Economo, a biodiversity scientist at the University of Maryland.

And now, in a study published on Thursday in the journal Nature Methods, ants are the stars of a stunning parade of high-resolution 3-D images made by Dr. Economo and his colleagues. The scans reveal the insects’ diverse bodies, inside and out, in exquisite anatomical detail. The entomological catwalk is also available for free at antscan.info.