Many insects feed on xylem or phloem sap of vascular plants. Although physical damage to the plant is minimal, the process of insect feeding can inadvertently transmit lethal viruses and bacterial pathogens.  Disparities between insect-mediated pathogen transmission efficiency have been identified among xylem sap-feeding insects; however, the mechanistic drivers of these trends are unclear. Identifying and understanding the structural factors and associated integrated functional components that may ultimately determine these disparities is critical for managing plant diseases. Here, we applied synchrotron-based X-ray microcomputed tomography to digitally reconstruct the morphology of three xylem sap-feeding insect vectors of plant pathogens: Graphocephala atropunctata (blue-green sharpshooter) and Homalodisca vitripennis (glassy-winged sharpshooter) (Hemiptera, Cicadellidae), and the spittlebug Philaenus spumarius (meadow spittlebug, Hemiptera, Aphrophoridae). The application of this technique revealed previously undescribed anatomical features of these organisms, such as key components of the salivary complex, and visualization of the 3D structure of the precibarial valve led to new insights into the mechanism of how this structure functions. Morphological disparities with functional implications between taxa were highlighted as well, including the morphology and volume of the cibarial dilator musculature responsible for extracting xylem sap, which has implications for force application capabilities. These morphological insights will be used to target analyses illuminating functional differences in feeding behavior.

This dataset includes 3D imaging files of specimens of the blue-green sharpshooter (Graphocephala atropunctata), the glassy-winged sharpshooter (Homalodisca vitripennis), and the meadow spittlebug (Philaenus spumarius), including data from synchrotron-based micro-CT scans (TIFF stacks), 3D object files (.obj), and Maya files (.mb).

TIFF stacks: Image file visualization software (e.g., Preview, ImageJ) or 3D image processing software (e.g., Dragonfly, Avizo, VG Studio MAX). Pixel size of 0.001605mm.

.obj files: 3D object visualization software (e.g., Meshlab, Autodesk Maya)

.mb files: Autodesk Maya