Exploring life-history and symbiotic strategy of social insect symbiont using X-ray CT

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This research describes the development of a practical comparative workflow to investigate the life-histories and symbiotic strategies of social insect symbionts using a non-destructive high-resolution micro-CT. We have selected a set of indicator traits and tested their performance for micro-CT imaging to determine their significance as indicators. This research indicates promising results, and we are currently in the process of selecting a set of suitable indicators to apply to a wide range of rare symbiont taxa. The study aims to provide researchers with valuable tools to investigate social insect symbionts, fill knowledge gaps in their ecology, and develop simulation models to answer specific questions related to their symbiotic ecology.