The visual systems of pollinating insects are studied to understand the effects of a changing environment, and are to date imaged using microscopy or micro-CT. Microscopy only allows two-dimensional imaging and conventional micro-CT requires heavy-metal staining of the samples. Here we present virtual histology of compound eyes of bumblebee (Bombus terrestris) using a laboratory nano-CT system. Propagation-based phase-contrast CT allows three-dimensional imaging of samples without using any staining. Micrometre-resolution images of the microanatomy of the eyes were reconstructed, and the features identified in CT (cornea, crystalline cones, pigment, photoreceptor cells, basement membrane) were confirmed with electron microscopy.
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