Pristiphora malaisei (Lindqvist, 1952)

Notes.

A single larva was obtained in northern Sweden by combing through the leaves of an isolated clump of Dryas octopetala, under which an inverted frisbee was held. The plant was growing on an otherwise bare patch of soil at the edge of a road. Gene sequences of the larva are nearly identical to those of Pristiphora malaisei imagines collected in the same area. Although the specimen (Fig. 74) is small (approx. total length 3 mm), and has been conserved in 96% ethanol, it seems to resemble the larva of P. dasiphorae as described by Zinovjev (1993) much more closely than the larva of P. malaisei (see Fig. 86) described in the same paper [under the name Pristicampus incisus (Lindqvist), synonymised with malaisei by Prous et al. (2017)], in having only three annulets on abdomen segments [six, as described by Zinovjev for incisa, on Potentilla fruticosa] and very long body setae [much shorter as described by Zinovjev]. Note that dasiphorae, so far only associated with Potentilla fruticosa as a host and in Europe known only from the Swedish island of Öland, is genetically clearly separable from malaisei (Prous et al. 2017). The larva from Dryas cannot, therefore, belong to dasiphorae . Zinovjev (1993) based his description of the larva of malaisei (as incisus) on specimens collected in the East Palaearctic (Siberia). Efforts should be made to obtain mature larvae of malaisei from northern or subarctic-alpine areas, in order to check the morphology of the larva, and to test the host association with Dryas .

Specimen examined.

Sweden: Torne Lappmark: 1 larva (DEI-GISHym83704), from Dryas octopetala, Abisko National Park (380 m), 68.35300N, 18.76300E, 06.08.2017, leg. Liston & Prous (SDEI).