Ephysteris kullbergi & Ephysteris ustjuzhanini: Two new species of Twirler Moth from Siberia and Mongolia.

The Gnorimoschemini are a group of Twirler Moths, Gelechiidae, are found across much of North America. They are small Moths, with narrow, fringed wings, the larvae of which feed internally on their host plants, sometimes forming galls; many species being considered to be agricultural pests. The genus Ephysteris currently contains about 60 species, most of which come from Europe and temperate Asia, although there are six described species from North America and over 20 are found in Africa.

In a paper published in the journal Nota Lepidoptera on 26 March 2018, Oleksiy Bidzilya of the Institute for the Evolutionary Ecology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, and Ole Karsholt of the Zoological Museum at the Natural History Museum of Denmark, describe two new species of Ephysteris from Russia and Mongolia.

The first new species is named Ephysteris kullbergi, after Jaakko Kullberg, the Finnish entomologist who collected the specimens from which the species is described, by Moth-lamping in dunes beside Lake Tere-Khol in the Tuva Republic of southern Siberia, Russia. These Moths have a wingspan of about 8-10 mm, and are creamy white in colour with black and grey markings. The females resemble the males, but have smaller hindwings, the larvae are unknown.

Ephysteris kullbergi, (1) male, and (2) female. Bidzilya & Karsholt (2018).

The second new species described is named Ephysteris ustjuzhanini, in honour of the Russian lepidopterist Petr Ustjuzhanin who collected the specimens from which the species is described. This species is described from two specimens, a male and a female collected t different locations in the Altai Mountains of Mongolia. The male has a wingspan of 8.8 mm, the female 9.0 mm, both are grey with white and brown markings.

Ephysteris ustjuzhanini, male specimen. Bidzilya & Karsholt (2018).

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Earthquake in Tuva Republic, southwest Siberia.

Slightly after 1.15 pm local time (slightly after 6.15 am GMT) on Sunday 26 February 2012, the Tuva Republic in southwest Siberia was hit by an Earthquake measured by the United States Geological Survey as measuring 6.7 on the Richter Scale, and occurring at a depth of 11.7 km. The quake was centered between the villages of Karaus and Kara Khem, but was felt across much of Siberia and neighboring Mongolia. There are no reports of any serious damage or casualties, but they would not be surprising for an Earthquake of this size, even in a remote region. The quake did apparently cause a localized blackout.

The location of the Tuva quake. United States Geological Survey.

Earthquakes in Central Asia are generally attributed to the movement of India, which is pushing into Eurasia from the south, causing the folding and uplift that creates the mountains of the Himalayas, the Tibetan Plateaux, and Siberia.

The Sayan Mountains of the Tuva Republic, a result of uplift caused by the impact of India into Eurasia.

See also Major Earthquake in southwestern Siberia, Himilayan Earthquake, Earthquake in Mojen, northern Iran, Magnitude 5.1 Earthquake in Western Tibet/Xizang and Earthquakes on Sciency Thoughts YouTube.

Major Earthquake in southwestern Siberia. 27 December 2011.

Slightly after 11.20 pm local time (slightly after 3.20 pm, GMT) on Tuesday 27 December 2011 a severe Earthquake shook a remote part the Kaa-Khem District of the Tuva Republic, southwestern Siberia, close to the Mongolian border, roughly 96 km to the east of Kyzyl, the capitol of the Tuva Republic. The quake was measured as having a magnitude of 6.6 on the Richter Scale and occurring at a depth of 6.9 km by the United States Geological Survey, and as having a magnitude of 6.5 on the Richter Scale and having a depth of 10 km by the Russian Academy of Sciences, which is slightly less severe but still pretty bad; the larger the magnitude and the shallower the depth, the more severe any effects felt at the surface will be. There have been at least three aftershocks, with magnitudes of 4.7-4.8.

Population exposure map from the United States Geological Survey, showing the epicenter of the quake (black star), the intensity of the shaking at the surface (coloured lines, yellow more severe than green), and local population centers (grey writing)

The quake has also been described as a magnitude 9.5 quake in some Russian press releases; this is a Medvedev-Sponheuer-Karnic (MSK) scale number; the MSK scale is an intensity measure used by Russian seismologists, it is an indication of the likely damage caused by a quake rather than the actual energy released as in the Richter Scale. A magnitude 9.5 quake on the MSK scale is considered to be Destructive to Devastating, with general panic, people thrown to the ground, severe damage to non-earthquake proofed buildings, damage to earthquake proofed buildings, and the potential of massive landslides and flooding.

The quake was felt in Kyzyl, where there are reports of minor damage to buildings but no casualties, but not as yet from the area where the quake was centered. The area is sparsely populated, with the majority of homes in the area being holiday homes owned by Russian city dwellers, which are unlikely to have been in use in mid-winter, but it is still thought highly likely that there will have been casualties, as buildings in the area are not generally Earthquake-proofed, and people forced to leave their homes abruptly in the middle of the night during the Siberian winter are deemed to be at extreme risk of hypothermia; temperatures are likely to have been between -20°C and -30°C in the area at the time of the quake. Emergency teams have been dispatched to the area, and a state of emergency declared by authorities in the Tuva Republic.

Major Earthquakes in southwestern Siberia are rare, the most recent was a quake in the neighboring Altai Republic in September 2003 that measured 7.2 on the Richter Scale, prior to which there had been no major quakes in the region for over 70 years. These quakes are a product of India pushing into the Eurasian Plate far to the south, which causes the eastern part of the Eurasian Plate to rotate clockwise, provoking pressure to build up in Central Asian rocks and eventually faulting within the mountains of southwestern Siberia.

See also Earthquake in Mojen, northern Iran, Earthquake in Western Tibet/Xizang, Earthquake on the Kyrgyzstan/Uzbekistan Border and Earthquakes on Sciency Thoughts YouTube.