Fukushima Is Afflicting the Pale Grass Blue Butterfly Zizeeria maha

Summary: A study tracking the pale grass blue butterfly (Zizeeria maha) finds abnormalities in the aftermath of Japan's 2011 Fukushima nuclear power plant accident.

"Caption This is a pale grass blue butterfly, one of the most common species of butterfly in Japan. Recent research has revealed major impacts on this species from the radiation leaks at the Fukushima nuclear power plant."; credit Joji Otaki, University of the Ryukyus, Okinawa, Japan: No usage restrictions, via EurekAlert!

A study published in Scientific Reports on August 9, 2012, finds that leaking radiation at the nuclear power plant at Fukushima is afflicting the pale grass blue butterfly (Zizeeria maha), one of Japan’s most common butterfly species.

From May 13 to 18, 2011, the study’s seven co-authors made onsite collections of the first generation of adults, known as first-voltine adults, to emerge after the 2011 Fukushima power plant disaster in Japan. Subsequent broods were raised in Okinama, at a distance of 1,087 miles (1,750 kilometers) from the leaking radiation site.

While the 144 first-voltine, field-caught adults exhibited relatively minor abnormalities, such as deformed wing shape, their Okinawan offspring, identified as F1, were riddled with more severe abnormalities, which the next Okinawan generation, identified as F2, inherited. Malformations appeared in various parts of the insects’ bodies: abdomen, antennae, eyes, palpi (sense organ), legs and wings. The co-authors detected frequent changes in color patterns, with spots added, deleted, enlarged, fused and mislocated. The study’s findings of abnormal traits, exhibited in the F1 generation and inherited by the F2 generation, suggested the high probability of genetic damage, “possibly due to the Fukushima Dai-ichi NPP accident.”

Six months after the Fukushima nuclear plant’s collapse, the researchers collected an additional 238 adults in the field. Collection took place from Sept. 18 to 21 and from Oct. 3 to 4, 2011. This collection of probably fourth- or fifth-voltine adults revealed even more severe abnormalities than those detected in the 144 first-voltine adults collected four months earlier in May. The September and October captures displayed aberrant wing color patterns as well as malformed antennae and legs.

The nuclear power plant at Fukushima Prefecture in the Tōhoku region of northeastern Honshu island in the Japanese archipelago suffered disastrous damage in the aftermath of the Great East Japan earthquake and tsunami of Friday, March 11, 2011. Shock waves from the 9.0-magnitude earthquake and tsunami caused a partial meltdown that released massively high levels of radiation into the environment.

Butterflies generally are considered as telltale environmental indicators because of their quick reactions to minor changes in an ecosystem. The pale grass blue butterfly was selected for the study as an indicator species of environmental conditions in the area of the Fukushima nuclear power plant because of its widespread distribution throughout Japan, especially in the Fukushima area, and because of the sensitivity of the species’ wing color patterns to environmental conditions.

Pale grass blue butterflies were overwintering as larvae during Fukushima’s meltdown and explosion, which occurred on March 12, 2011. Consequently, the larvae experienced radiation exposure both externally and, through food sources, internally.

The study found that the pale grass blue butterfly’s inherited genetic damage is revelatory of the future effects induced by radioactive contamination on animal species and also of the internal effects of radiation exposure conveyed through food sources.

Dr. Joji Otaki, co-author and associate professor in the Department of Chemistry, Biology, and Marine Science at the University of the Ryukyus in Nishihara, Okinawa, explains the significance of food sources as a factor in the effects of radiated environments upon resident species: “Non-contaminated larvae fed leaves from contaminated host plants collected near the reactor showed high rates of abnormality and mortality.”

graphics of (a) first-voltine and host plant leaf collection localities, (b) representative normal and aberrant wing color patterns, (c) male forewing sizes, (d) scatter plot of male forewing size and ground radiation dose and (e) representative morphological abnormalities; Atsuki Hiyama et al., "“The Biological Impacts of the Fukushima Nuclear Accident on the Pale Grass Blue Butterfly," Scientific Reports, vol. 2, article number 570 (published Aug. 9, 2012), Figure 1 a-e: Scientific Reports @SciReports, via Twitter Aug. 9, 2012

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

"Caption This is a pale grass blue butterfly, one of the most common species of butterfly in Japan. Recent research has revealed major impacts on this species from the radiation leaks at the Fukushima nuclear power plant."; credit Joji Otaki, University of the Ryukyus, Okinawa, Japan: No usage restrictions, via EurekAlert! @ https://www.eurekalert.org/multimedia/862527; (EurekAlert! news release URL @ https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/562324); (former URL @ http://www.eurekalert.org/multimedia/pub/77565.php)

graphics of (a) first-voltine and host plant leaf collection localities, (b) representative normal and aberrant wing color patterns, (c) male forewing sizes, (d) scatter plot of male forewing size and ground radiation dose and (e) representative morphological abnormalities; Atsuki Hiyama et al., "“The Biological Impacts of the Fukushima Nuclear Accident on the Pale Grass Blue Butterfly," Scientific Reports, vol. 2, article number 570 (published Aug. 9, 2012), Figure 1 a-e: Scientific Reports @SciReports, via Twitter Aug. 9, 2012, @ https://twitter.com/SciReports/status/233523834404347904

For further information:

American Genetic Association. 14 August 2014. “Fukushima’s Legacy.” EurekAlert! > Public Releases.
Available @ http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2014-08/aga-fl081114.php

Hiyama, Atsuki; Chiyo Nohara; Seira Kinjo; Wataru Taira; Shinichi Gima; Akira Tanahara; and Joji M. Otaki. 9 August 2012. “The Biological Impacts of the Fukushima Nuclear Accident on the Pale Grass Blue Butterfly.” Scientific Reports 2, Article No. 570 (9 August 2012). Doi:10.1038/srep00570.
Available @ http://www.nature.com/articles/srep00570

Marriner, Derdriu. 9 November 2015. "Fukushima Contaminated Water at West Coastlines of the Americas." Earth and Space News. Monday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2015/11/fukushima-contaminated-water-at-west.html

Science News @ScienceNews. 17 May 2014. "Pale grass blue butterfly larvae fed radiation-contaminated leaves from Fukushima had developmental abnormalities." Twitter.
Available @ https://twitter.com/ScienceNews/status/467804338342346752

Scientific Reports @SciReports. 9 August 2012. "The biological impacts of the Fukushima nuclear accident on the pale grass blue butterfly." Twitter.
Available @ https://twitter.com/SciReports/status/233541124969594880

Scientific Reports‏ @SciReports. 9 August 2012. "Research in @SciReports today reveals how the Fukushima disaster affected the pale blue grass butterfly." Twitter.
Available @ https://twitter.com/SciReports/status/233523834404347904

Yeager, Ashley. 16 May 2014. "Fukushima Contamination Affects Butterfly Larvae." Science News > Blogs > Science Ticker.
Available @ https://www.sciencenews.org/blog/science-ticker/fukushima-contamination-affects-butterfly-larvae