Atomic Photographers & Artists Cornelia Hesse-Honegger

Cornelia Hesse-Honegger (1944 – ) is a Swiss Scientific illustrator and visual “knowledge artist”. Your insect -Pictures been exhibited internationally in museums and galleries and blurs the border between art and science, presenting insects as a testimony to a beautiful and threatened world of life.

www.wissenskunst.ch

www.machtderschwachenstrahlung.com

Field studies in the nuclear fallout areas from Chernobyl

As a scientific illustrator I had worked for Prof. Hans Burla, a geneticist at the Zoological Institute of the University of Zurich. In 1967 he gave me the assignment to draw Drosophila subobscura flies that had been mutated in the laboratory by adding a poison (EMS) to their food. For my own interest I also painted these mutated flies, which were called quasimodo.
In 1985 I painted a housefly, Musca domestica, mutation called aristapedia — mutated by x-rays in the laboratory. The dean of the Zoological Institute gave the mutant flies to me when I asked him for permission to paint them. This work trained me to detect morphological disturbances in Heteroptera true bugs, which live in the wild at the edge of forests and in meadows.

Head and thorax of soft bug from Gysinge, Sweden Color Sketch, Gysinge 1987 The left feeler is short and lacks two sections

Housefly Mutant ‘aristapedia’ Watercolor, Zürich 1985-1986 Parts of legs are growing out of the feelers and the eyes and body are yellow

Drosophila melanogaster, head and abdomen, Ticino, 1. genenration Color Sketch, Zürich 1987 Head and abdomen are disturbed

Soft bug larva from Österfärnebo, Sweden Color Sketch, Gysinge 1987 The left pair of wings is separated

Drosophila melanogaster, Ticino, 3rd generation Color Sketch, Zürich 1987 The left wing is a little clump

Soft Bug from Pripjat, Ukraine Watercolor, Kiev and Zürich 1990 Right side middle leg is short with no foot but two claws

Tree Bug from Slavoutich, Ukraine Watercolor, Zürich 1991 Right feeler is disturbed

Froghopper (<em>Cercopis vulnerata</em>) from Rancate, Ticino, Switzerland, found in March 1988. At the joint of the left middle leg, another part of a leg grows abnormally. "A zoologist made me a preparation of the [single] leg on the right side," says Hesse-Honegger. (Watercolor, Zürich 1988,

Soft bug larva (<em>Miridae sp.</em>) from Österfärnebo, Sweden, discovered July 30, 1987. "The highest radiation from Chernobyl in Sweden was measured in the schoolyard of Österfärnebo, where I found this soft bug larva," says Hesse-Honegger. "The left two wings are disturbed. They should be together in one 'package' like on the right side. This insect would never be able to fly." (Watercolor, Gysinge 1987,

A fire bug (<em>Pyrrhocoris apterus</em>) found August 13, 1990, in Séljony Mys, Ukraine, near the South entrance of the 30 km exclusion zone around Chernobyl. (Watercolor, Zürich 1990,

True bug larva (<em>Heteroptera sp.</em>) found in Melano, Ticino, Switzerland in the fall of 1987. This area was heavily hit by the Chernobyl cloud. (Watercolor 1987,

Fire bug (<em>Pyrrhocoris apterus</em>) from Séljony Mys, South entrance of the 30 km Chernobyl exclusion zone, found August 13,1990. "The left side of the thorax is disturbed - not only the form of the thorax but also the color pattern. The pigment of the right cover wing is also disturbed," says Hesse-Honneger (Watercolor, Zürich 1990,

Painted in Kiev and finished in Zurich, Hesse-Honegger found this soft bug (<em>Miridae</em> sp.) from Pripjat, Ukraine, on August 13, 1990. "The middle leg on the right side is disturbed--there is no foot but a claw," she says. Watercolor

Fire bug <em>Pyrrhocoris apterus</em> from Séljony Mys, near the south entrance of the 30 km exclusion zone, found August 13, 1990. "The wings are narrow and sort and do not cover the vulnerable body," says Hesse-Honegger. (Watercolor, Zürich 1990,

The head of a soft bug (<em>Miridae</em> sp.) found July 22, 1990, near Graubünden in southeast Switzerland, part of the Chernobyl fallout area. "There is a chaotic growth on the left eye of the insect," says Hesse-Honegger. (Watercolor, Zürich 1990,

Thorax and wings of a tree bug (<em>Pentatoma rufipes</em>) found in 1990 in Graubünden, Switzerland, part of the Chernobyl fallout area. Hesse-Honegger notes that the right wings are disturbed and the scutellum is bent.

A squash bug Coreus marginatus from Polesskoje, Ukraine, found August 15, 1990. "The left feeler lacks a section and is shorter," says Hesse-Honegger. (Watercolor, Zürich 1990, © Pro Litteris/Cornelia Hesse-Honegger)

Field studies in radiation-contaminated areas in the U.S.

After having found deformed insects in the fallout areas of Chernobyl and nuclear facilities in Switzerland and other parts of Europe, I grew interested in the question, Are there long-lasting consequences for the morphological health of Heteroptera leaf bugs after a nuclear accident?
It was once thought that the nuclear power plants in Eastern Europe were not as safe as in the West. Therefore, I wanted to concentrate my efforts on Western nuclear power plants. The first plant that came into consideration: Three Mile Island, in Pennsylvania, where in 1979 a nuclear accident took place.

Harlequin bug near Three Mile Island, USA Watercolor, New Cumberland 1991 The Scutellum is curved and its yellow ornament is asymmetrical.

Scentless plant bug found at Parvin Road, near Hanford, Washington Watercolor, Pullman/Zürich1990 Right feeler is a stump

Peach Bottom plant, also in Pennsylvania and close by, was second on the list. In 1997 I conducted field studies in the environs of the Nevada atom bomb testing ground, and followed that in 1998 with one around the Hanford plutonium factories in Washington State. The accounts that the local people I met gave me about their health shocked me deeply [ 1 ] Die Art, wie die Behörden mit der verstrahlten Bevölkerung umging war brutal. Es wurde nicht geholfen, ja man experimentierte mit radioaktiven Substanzen an Menschen, zwischen 1940 bis 1970 ohne dass sie davon wussten. [ 2 ] Image: Tree Bug from Parvin Road near Hanford, Washington Watercolor, Pullman/Zürich 1998 Right feeler with four sections

Three Mile Island, Pennsylvania, U.S. In the summer of 1991 I started my field study in the environs of nuclear power plant Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania, which suffered through a near atomic disaster on March 26, 1979. Thousands of people were irradiated, but they were only notified two days after the incident, and even then only 2,500 children and pregnant women were evacuated. After the accident many people suffered from a kind of sunburn, lost their hair and teeth, and died many years later of cancer. Their suffering as a consequence of the accident is still not recognized. [ 3 ] Image: Ambush bug near Three Mile Island, Pennsylvania Watercolor, New Cumberland 1991 Ventral: the left side front foot is damaged

When I arrived in 1991 the cleanup was still going on, with some serious incidents occurring during my study. I collected Heteroptera true bugs and Cicada Homoptera around the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant, at Governor’s Stable, Goldsboro, New Cumberland, Swatara, Oberlin, Londonderry and Royalton. The worst deformities I found in a distance of five from the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant. [ 1 ] Image: Ladybird beetle near Three Mile Island, Pennsylvania Watercolor, New Cumberland / Zürich 1991 Dent and a black growth on wings

Peach Bottom Plant, Pennsylvania, U.S. The nuclear power plant Peach Bottom, in Pennsylvania, had to be shut down several times between 1974 and 1987 because iodine –131 had been emitted into the environment. The pastureland of local cows was irradiated, and their highly contaminated milk was delivered, mostly, to other parts of the country. [ 4 ] The few Heteroptera true bugs I found there in the summer of 1990 and, next to Atom Road, were all deformed. The worst deformities were on the wings and abdomen. [ 1 ] Image: Ambush bug, Peach Bottom Plant, Pennsylvania Watercolor, Zürich 1991 Ventral: segments disturbed

Atom bomb testing grounds, Nevada, U.S. By coincidence, on the very day — September 17, 1997 — I arrived in Indian Springs, Nevada, near the door to the atom bomb testing area, an underground bomb test was conducted. I wanted to collect Heteroptera true bugs there. This study was interesting because most of the surrounding land is desert, and there is no heavy industry except for the military airplaines. The biotopes were beautiful and the variety of insects rich. The most morphologically disturbed true bugs — and also the greatest number of them — I found about 300 miles to the northeast, in the mountains near the test site at Cedar Breaks, Parowan. Some deformed true bugs were also found near Zion National Park in Utah. [ 5 ] Image: Seed bug from Springdale, Utah, near the atom bomb testing grounds Watercolor, Zürich 1998 Dark spots and a hole on the wings

Plutonium factories at Hanford, in Washington State, U.S. In 1942, as part of the “Manhattan Project,” a military base in Hanford, Washington, was turned into manufacturing site for plutonium to fuel atomic bombs. From 1962 to 1965, the federal government conducted secret experiments at Hanford, code-named “Green Run,” in which radioactive elements were deliberately released into the environment to see what effects they would have on the human and animal populations in the area. The public was not informed of these experiments. [ 2 ] In 1971 the Hanford plutonium factories were finally closed. The site is heavily contaminated with radioactive materials such as phosphorus –32 and zinc –65. Some of this material, representing 22 million Ci (Curie) of radiation, leaked into Columbia River, which is still heavily contaminated though it remains a very popular fishing ground. [ 2 ] Image: Ladybird beetle from Richland near Hanford, Washington Watercolor, Richland 1998 The left wing is shorter

In the summer of 1998 I conducted a field study to collect Heteroptera true bugs from the Hanford area and other sites around Washington State and Idaho, all areas contaminated by radiation from Hanford. I found the most profound deformities in the true bugs around the towns of Richland, Fort Spokane, and north of the city of Spokane, as well as west of Lake Coeur d’Alene, and to the south from Plummer to Potlatch [ 2 ]. Image: Ambush bug from Othello near Hanford, Washington Watercolor, Cashmere / Zürich 1998 Ventral: the left side front leg is crippled.

Field study in the environs of Swiss nuclear power plants

The Swiss “Commission for the Protection from Radioactivity” estimated in 1988 that as a result of the radioactive fallout from Chernobyl, the Swiss population would have 2 to 22 additional genetical anomalies for the next 100 years, and an additional 300 cases of cancer for the next 70 years.
[ 1 ] In other words, the threat from the Chernobyl radioactive cloud was negligible.

My first collecting tour around the nuclear power plant Gösgen, in the canton of Aargau, alerted me to the possibility that terrible findings awaited me, as the deformities I detected with my binocular microscope were comparable to, and even worse than the ones I had found in Sweden and in the Ticino, fallout areas of the Chernobyl radioactive cloud. [ 2 ]