Developmental and hemocytological effects of ingesting Fukushima’s radiocesium on the cabbage white butterfly Pieris rapae

Abstract

High morphological abnormality and mortality rates have been reported in the pale grass blue butterfly, Zizeeria maha, since the Fukushima nuclear accident. However, it remains uncertain if these effects are restricted to this butterfly. Here, we evaluated the effects of ingesting cabbage leaves grown with contaminated soils from Fukushima on the development and hemocytes of the cabbage white butterfly, Pieris rapae. Contaminated cabbage leaves containing various low levels of anthropogenic ¹³⁴Cs and ¹³⁷Cs radioactivity (less than natural ⁴⁰K radioactivity) were fed to larvae from Okinawa, the least contaminated locality in Japan. Negative developmental and morphological effects were detected in the experimental groups. The cesium (but not potassium) radioactivity concentration was negatively correlated with the granulocyte percentage in hemolymph, and the granulocyte percentage was positively correlated with the pupal eclosion rate, the adult achievement rate, and the total normality rate. These results demonstrated that ingesting low-level radiocesium contaminants in Fukushima (but not natural radiopotassium) imposed biologically negative effects on the cabbage white butterfly, as in the pale grass blue butterfly, at both cellular and organismal levels.