Chernobyl ’shows insect decline’

Two decades after the explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, radiation is still causing a reduction in the numbers of insects and spiders.

According to researchers working in the exclusion zone surrounding Chernobyl, there is a “strong signal of decline associated with the contamination”.

The team found that bumblebees, butterflies, grasshoppers, dragonflies and spiders were affected.