X-ray micro-tomographic data of live larvae of the beetle Cacosceles newmannii.

Philipp Lehmann,Marion Javal,John S Terblanche,Muofhe Tshibalanganda,Anton Du Plessis

doi:10.46471/gigabyte.18

Philipp Lehmann, Marion Javal + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.46471/gigabyte.18

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Abstract

Quantifying insect respiratory structures and their variation has remained challenging due to their microscopic size. Here we measure insect tracheal volume using X-ray micro-tomography (μCT) scanning (at 15μm resolution) on living, sedated larvae of the cerambycid beetle Cacosceles newmannii across a range of body sizes. In this paper we provide the full volumetric data and 3D models for 12 scans, providing novel data on repeatability of imaging analyses and structural tracheal trait differences provided by different image segmentation methods. The volume data is provided here with segmented tracheal regions as 3D models.

Highlights

In insects, oxygen is supplied through air-filled tubes called tracheae [1, 2]
Using μCT has the benefit of allowing reconstruction of the intact tracheal tree in its three-dimensional configuration
For tracheal nomenclature and abbreviations we follow [9] and for analyses, we only considered the tracheal tree branching in from the first metathoracic

Summary

INTRODUCTION

Oxygen is supplied through air-filled tubes called tracheae [1, 2]. These originate in ventilatory valves embedded in the cuticle, called spiracles, that lead to a branching network of tubes of decreasing diameter that end in close proximity to the tissues and cells to which they supply oxygen. The relevant μCT setup, scanning, reconstruction, and visualization methods are explained and the acquired datasets are provided, in the form of 3D volume data (image stacks) and models of the segmented tracheal systems studied. A total of 1500 step positions were used in one full rotation of the sample These settings allowed us to perform scans of approximately 18 minutes (which is relatively short for μCT), to minimize the time animals spent under sevoflurane anaesthesia. One segmented tracheal tree from each sample as described above (shown in Figure 2) is provided in the form of a 3D model as STL file, providing guidance to researchers wishing to perform further segmentation of these structures from the volume data. The traits suggest overcapacity, rather than capacity deficit, at larger masses

Findings

DISCUSSION

CONCLUSIONS