\u201cTo Martha Weiss,\u201d she said. \u201cHello. Nice to meet you. My name is Jo Nagai. I’m from Japan. I live in Kobe, Japan. I’m in the second grade at Ibuki Elementary School. When I found your research on the internet, I was so delighted!!\u201d<\/p>\n
Annie Rosenthal, who is both a Signal Hill editor and Weiss\u2019 daughter, noted the \u201ctwo exclamation marks\u201d in their interview.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cTwo bold exclamation marks,\u201d Weiss confirmed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In the letter, Nagai asked Weiss about her landmark study on moth memory and asked how he could expand it to his butterflies.\u00a0<\/p>\n
At first, Weiss doubted whether an elementary school student could recreate the same experiment that she and her grad student, Doug Blackiston, had established in a secure lab setting over a decade earlier.<\/p>\n
In her first letter back, Weiss suggested that Nagai run an experiment on something much simpler, like \u201cteaching butterflies to learn colors.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
But Nagai was undeterred.<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/6a592a5a2b4a07d80d935c4a_6a592a586814ba5b3476a734_second-grader-catepillar-body.webp\")
Jo Nagai. Dr. Akito Kawahara<\/p>\n
\u201cI really want to prove it\u2019s possible that my butterflies can remember what they learned as a caterpillar,\u201d he wrote in his next letter. \u201cI don’t want to give up now. I really need your help.\u201d<\/p>\n
His determination sparked a multi-year correspondence across continents. With Weiss\u2019 assistance, Nagai organized an experiment in his own makeshift lab at home. In his attempt to recreate Weiss\u2019 2008 study, Nagai established a control group of caterpillars and a test group.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Swapping out Weiss\u2019 original chemical ethyl acetate for a gentler smell, lavender oil, Nagai introduced the caterpillars to the smell while administering very small shocks through a miniature muscle therapy device.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When the caterpillars had later transformed into butterflies, 80% of the test group avoided the lavender smell.<\/p>\n
He sent his findings in a 33-page document to Weiss.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did you think when you got that email?\u201d Rosenthal asked her mother.<\/p>\n
![\"An](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/6a592a5a2b4a07d80d935c50_6a592a5868a7f2e28aafc845_second-grader-catepillar-body-2.webp\")
Nagai and Weiss. Signal Hill Podcast<\/p>\n
\u201cI was flabbergasted and delighted,\u201d Weiss replied. \u201cAnd in this letter I thought, \u2018Holy cow, he’s a real scientist, and he’s figuring out new stuff.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
In 2022, the same year that he graduated from second grade, Nagai presented his research to scientists at Shinshu University, Tsukuba University, and Saga University.<\/p>\n
But Nagai didn\u2019t stop there. A year later, he told Weiss that he wanted to see if caterpillars could inherit memories.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Inspired by a similar study on nematodes, Nagai repeated his earlier experiment and discovered something remarkable: Butterflies didn\u2019t just carry memories from their earlier forms \u2014 they appeared to pass memories down to their young as well.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Soon, Nagai and Weiss will formally present their findings to the Journal of the Lepidopterists\u2019 Society. But first, Nagai is just focused on graduating from the fifth grade.<\/p>\n
This past year, the 10-year-old finally met Weiss when she brought her family on a trip to Japan. When they met, the professor presented him with a magnifying glass tied with a ribbon \u2014 just like the one she often sports around her neck.<\/p>\n
During their visit to Japan, Rosenthal asked Nagai what he wanted to be when he grew up, expecting him to say entomologist like her mother. He said he wants to be a vet instead.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI can fix caterpillars and insects both,\u201d Nagai explained.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAre there other insect veterinarians now?\u201d Rosenthal asked.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNo,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSo you might be the first insect vet,\u201d she replied.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYes!\u201d he exclaimed.<\/p>\n
\u200d<\/p>\n