Around 12 per cent of pale grass blue butterflies that were exposed to nuclear fallout as larvae immediately after the tsunami-sparked disaster had abnormalities, including smaller wings and damaged eyes, researchers said. The insects were mated in a laboratory well outside the fallout zone and 18 per cent of their offspring displayed similar problems, said Joji Otaki, associate professor at Ryukyu University in Okinawa, southwestern Japan. That figure rose to 34 per cent in the third generation of butterflies, he said, even though one parent from each coupling was from an unaffected population. (via Fukushima ‘caused mutant butterflies’ in Japan - Telegraph)
