The long-legged flies (Diptera: Dolichopodidae) from Kurile Islands, with description of a new species of the genus Sciapus Zeller, 1842

An annotated list of dolichopodid species recorded from Kurile Archipelago (Russia) is given for the first time. Sciapus basarukini sp. n. from Kunashir Island is described and illustrated. New records for 26 species, including 8 species new for the Kurile Islands, are presented. Long-legged flies are recorded for the first time from the Anuchina, Tanfilyeva, Polonskogo, Urup, Chirpoy, Brat-Chirpoyev, Simushir, Ushishir, Matua, Raikoke, Paramushir, Kharimkotan, Makanrushi, Atlasov, and Onekotan islands. Two species are excluded from the fauna of Kurils. In total, 54 species are recorded from the Kurile Archipelago that appa¬rently makes up 50–60% of the actual dolichopodid fauna in this region. The trends discovered on the Kurile Islands for plant species, i.e. the landscape diversity and the number of plant species increase from small to large islands, and decrease from southern islands northward, are generally supported by the case of flies of the family Dolichopodidae.

Specificity of the products of Tyatya volcano eruption in 1973

Based on 198 determinations of the complete silicate analysis of Tyatya volcano (Kunashir Island), we compared the data of the latter (1973) and all previous eruptions to reveal their differences and determine the evolution of Tyatya volcanism in the Holocene. The application of the estimation of the thermobaric parameters of the upper mantle magma chamber of the volcano made it possible to determine the temperature decrease in the magma chamber in 1973. An assumption was made about the polycyclic magmatic activity of the Tyatya volcano. The results of statistical processing of data on the thickness of tephra and the size of its fragments from the 1973 eruption are presented. Polynomial regressions of various degrees are applied. Models of tephra distribution based on three-dimensional trend analysis have been constructed. The results of the study are recommended for the creation of information databases on the petrochemistry of eruption products and the distribution of pyroclastics from volcanoes in the Kuril Island arc.

Toxic element concentrations in lichen Platismatia interrupta around the geothermal power station on Kunashir Island

The results of the study of the gross content of 14 chemical elements in lichen Platismatia interrupta collected around the geothermal power station “Mendeleevskaya” on Kunashir Island are presented. The highest exceedance was noted for As in the research area. The gross content of As varies from 0.8–2.6 mg/kg in control areas and up to 5–9 mg/kg in the impact zone, i.e. the maximum excess in lichen is noted by 11.6 times. For other elements, there were no strong exceedances in the impact zone compared to the control areas. According to the results of regression analysis, a statistically reliable inverse exponential relationship between the content of As and the distance to the power station (adjusted R2: 0.86, p-value: 0.001) is traced. The average value of the enrichment coefficient for As exceeds 100, which indicates the non-substrate origin of this element.

Accumulative landforms in valleys with gas-hydrothermal manifestations of the Kuril-Kamchatka region

Within the watercourse valleys of geothermal zones, where manifestations of gas-hydrothermal activity are noted, the processes of relief formation are accompanied by chemical and thermal effects. Thermal waters contribute to the formation of specific accumulative landforms both directly in the channel and in the bottom and on the sides of river valleys. Similar phenomena have been studied in river valleys draining the slopes of the Mendeleev volcano (Kunashir Island), Baransky volcano (Iturup Island), Mutnovsky volcano and Uzon-Geyzernaya caldera (Kamchatka). The typification of accumulative relief forms is carried out, the influence of gas-hydrothermal manifestations on fluvial and slope processes is determined.

The ground beetles (Coleoptera, Carabidae) of southern Kuril Islands, Russia

We compiled a list of the ground beetles that have been confirmed to occur to date in the southern Kuril Islands, Russian Far East. The list includes 168 species, all of which are known from Kunashir Island and the species richness on the remaining islands ranges from 68 (Shikotan Island) to 21 species (Tanfil'eva Island). The species richness is shown to depend sublinearly on island area, this being unusual for island faunas (Triantis et al. 2011). A large part of data is published here for the first time on the records of ground beetles in the southern Kuril Islands with precise localities. This allows not only the taxonomic composition of the faunas, but also the composition of local faunas to be discussed.

A new subspecies of Bembidion sanatum (Coleoptera: Carabidae) endemic to the Mendeleev Volcano (Kunashir Island, Russia)

Bembidion (Peryphanes) sanatum iwanai ssp. n. is described from the solfatara fields of the Mendeleev Volcano (Kuril Archipelago: Kunashir Island). It slightly differs from the nominative subspecies by body proportions, as well as the relatively narrow external intervals of the elytra and their microsculpture, yet showing stable distinctions in endophallus armature (basal part of lamina 1 is rounded, vs. angular in the nominative subspecies) and in the spermatheca duct (5–6 convolutions, vs. 7–8 in the nominative subspecies). Endemism of insects on the island’s large volcanic massifs of Kunashir Island is discussed.

Microorganisms of Two Thermal Pools on Kunashir Island, Russia

The Kuril Archipelago is a part of the Circum-Pacific Belt (Ring of Fire). These islands have numerous thermal springs. There are very few studies on these microbial communities, and none of them have been conducted by modern molecular biological methods. Here we performed the first metagenomic study on two thermophilic microbial communities of Kunashir Island. Faust Lake is hot (48 °C) and highly acidic (pH 2.0). We constructed 28 metagenome-assembled genomes as well as 17 16S ribosomal RNA sequences. We found that bottom sediments of Faust Lake are dominated by a single species of red algae belonging to the Cyanidiaceae family. Archaeans in Faust Lake are more diverse than bacteria but less abundant. The Tretyakovsky Thermal Spring is also hot (52 °C) but only weakly acidic (pH 6.0). It has much higher microbial diversity (233 metagenome-assembled genomes; 93 16S ribosomal RNAs) and is dominated by bacteria, with only several archaeans and one fungus. Despite their geographic proximity, these two thermal springs were found to not share any species. A comparison of these two lakes with other thermal springs of the Circum-Pacific Belt revealed that only a few members of the communities are shared among different locations.

New record of Epermenia (Calotripis) sinjovi Gaedike (Lepidoptera: Epermeniidae) in China: DNA barcode, adult, immature stages, host plant and biology

Epermenia (Calotripis) sinjovi Gaedike, 1993, feeding on Angelica pubescens Maxim. and A. ursina Maxim., was previously recorded in Russia (Far East, Southern Siberia and Transbaikalia), Kunashir Island and Japan. This species is for the first time reported in China by rearing from a new host plant A. polymorpha Maxim. The larva and pupa are illustrated and described for the first time. Available biological information associated with the new host plant is also reported. Reference DNA barcodes are provided for E. (C.) sinjovi, which confirms that forewing distinct colors and morphological differences found in venation and genitalia among individuals are intraspecific variations. The adult morphological variations within population are analyzed and discussed.