Lypha fumipennis Brooks, 1945, Fig. 45

Host records ex. Choristoneura conflictana: Prentice 1955, as Lypha setifacies (SK, MB); † Arnaud 1978, as Lypha setifacies ex. C. fumiferana (SK, MB); † Huber et al. 1996, as Lypha setifacies (America north of Mexico); O’Hara 2002 (AB, †SK, MB).

Host records ex. Choristoneura fumiferana: Brooks 1945, as Lypha setifacies ex. Archips fumiferana (ON, QC); Wilkes & Anderson 1947, as Lypha setifacies ex. Archips fumiferana (ON); Dowden et al. 1951, as Lypha setifacies ex. Archips fumiferana (NY); Jaynes & Drooz 1952, as Lypha setifacies (NY, ME); Miller 1955, as Lypha setifacies (NB); Dowden et al. 1953, as Lypha setifacies (ME); McGugan & Blais 1959, as Lypha setifacies (ON); Blais 1960, as Lypha setifacies (QC); MacDonald & Webb 1963, as Lypha setifacies (NB); † Miller 1963, as Lypha setifacies (NB); Blais 1965, as Lypha setifacies (QC); † Tilles & Woodley 1984, as Lypha setifacies (ME); Hébert et al. 1989, as Lypha setifacies (QC); Huber et al. 1996, as Lypha setifacies (NB); Bourchier & Smith 1998, as Lypha setifacies (ON); Cappuccino et al. 1999, as Lypha setifacies (QC); † Smith et al. 2002, as Lypha setifacies (eastern Canada); O’Hara 2002 (ON, †NB, †QC, †NY, ME).

Host records ex. Choristoneura fumiferana and/or Choristoneura occidentalis: Brown 1941, as Lypha dubia ex. Cacoecia fumiferana (Canada); † Dowden et al. 1948, as Lypha setifacies ex. Archips fumiferana (North America); † Zwolfer 1961, as Lypha setifacies ex. C. fumiferana (North America); † Arnaud 1978, as Lypha setifacies ex. C. fumiferana (BC, ON, QC, NB, ME, NY).

Host records ex. Choristoneura fumiferana, Choristoneura occidentalis and/or Choristoneura pinus: † Ross 1952, as Lypha setifacies ex. spruce and/or jack pine budworm (Canada).

Host records ex. Choristoneura occidentalis: O’Hara 2002 (BC, †OR).

Host records probably ex. Choristoneura occidentalis: Coppel 1947, as Lypha setifacies ex. Archips fumiferana (BC); Wilkes et al. 1949, as Lypha setifacies ex. C. fumiferana (BC); Coppel 1953, as Lypha setifacies ex. C. fumiferana (BC); Carolin & Coulter 1959, as Lypha setifacies ex. C. fumiferana (OR); † Coppel 1960, as Lypha setifacies ex. C. fumiferana (BC).

Host records ex. Choristoneura occidentalis and/or Choristoneura retiniana: Schaupp et al. 1991, as Lypha setifacies (OR).

Host records ex. Choristoneura pinus: Benjamin & Drooz 1954, as Lypha setifacies (MI); Dixon & Benjamin 1963, as Lypha setifacies (WI); Allen et al. 1969, as Lypha setifacies (MI); † Arnaud 1978, as Lypha setifacies (WI, MI); Nealis 1991, as Lypha setifacies (ON); † Huber et al. 1996, as Lypha setifacies (America north of Mexico); †Frankenhuyzen 2002, as Lypha setifacies (ON, prairie provinces); O’Hara 2002 (ON, †WI, †MI).

Host records ex. Choristoneura rosaceana: Brooks 1945, as Lypha setifacies ex. Archips rosaceana (QC); † Arnaud 1978, as Lypha setifacies (QC); † Huber et al. 1996, as Lypha setifacies (America north of Mexico); † O’Hara 2002 (QC).

Lypha fumipennis is a dark coloured tachinid, 5–7.5mm long, that occurs throughout southern Canada and the northern United States and is also recorded from Georgia (O’Hara 2002). It was redescribed by O’Hara (2002) in his revision of the Polideini of America north of Mexico. Lypha fumipennis (as L. setifacies) was included in a key to the puparia of dipterous parasitoids of Choristoneura species by Ross (1952) and in a key to the adults of dipterous parasitoids of C. occidentalis (as C. fumiferana) in British Columbia by Coppel (1960). Tilles and Woodley (1984) included L. fumipennis (as L. setifacies) among the five tachinid species treated in their manual of spruce budworm parasitoids in Maine.

Almost all the North American species of Lypha were combined under the name L. dubia (Fallén), a Palearctic species, until Brooks (1945) revised the Canadian species of the genus. Brooks did not examine the type series of L. setifacies (West), however, and O’Hara (2002) showed that Brooks misapplied this name. O’Hara (2002) discovered that the species described by Brooks as L. intermedia is in fact L. setifacies, and that the L. setifacies of Brooks is conspecific with the species Brooks (1945) described from British Columbia as L. fumipennis. Hence, the valid name for this Choristoneura parasitoid is L. fumipennis. Unfortunately, the name used by Brooks (i.e., L. setifacies) became entrenched in the literature on Choristoneura parasitoids because this species has long been known as a parasitoid of the spruce budworm.

Host attack by L. fumipennis has not been described but is probably similar to that of its Palearctic relative, Lypha dubia (Fallén). Lypha dubia deposits fully incubated eggs in the vicinity of a host, the eggs hatch soon afterwards, and the first instars search for and parasitize the host (Schröder 1969). Lypha fumipennis parasitizes fifth and sixth instar larvae of Choristoneura and the fully mature maggot emerges from the sixth instar of its host, or more rarely from the pupa (Benjamin & Drooz 1954; Carolin & Coulter 1959; Allen et al. 1969; Hébert et al. 1989). The maggot enters the ground, overwinters in the puparium, and emerges as an adult in spring (Brooks 1945; Coppel 1947). Adults are only seen during spring and early summer (O’Hara 2002), so there is probably only one generation per year. Females of L. dubia in Europe live for 30–50 days, have a preoviposition period of approximately a month, and develop about 150 eggs (Schröder 1969).

Lypha fumipennis is one of the most significant tachinid parasitoids of late instar Choristoneura larvae. Most studies of budworm parasitism have reported its presence (as L. setifacies) and parasitism rates are sometimes high. Benjamin and Drooz (1954) and Allen et al. (1969) reported parasitism of up to 16% and 9% respectively in C. pinus in Michigan, Dowden et al. (1951) reported up to 18% parasitism of C. fumiferana in New York, Jaynes and Drooz (1952) reported up to 17% parasitism of C. fumiferana in Maine, Nealis (1991) found greater than 20% parasitism of C. fumiferana in northwest Ontario, and Wilkes et al. (1949) reported up to 10% parasitism of C. occidentalis (as C. fumiferana) in British Columbia. In several studies L. fumipennis was the most dominant, or one of the most dominant, parasitoids of late instar budworms (Benjamin & Drooz 1954; Tilles & Woodley 1984; Nealis 1991). Lypha fumipennis (as L. setifacies) was ranked by Wilkes et al. (1949) as the fifth most important parasitoid, and third most important dipterous parasitoid, of C. occidentalis (as C. fumiferana) in British Columbia. Jaynes and Drooz (1952), Nealis (1991), and Bourchier and Smith (1998) reported increased rates of spruce budworm parasitism prior to the collapse of an outbreak, suggesting that L. fumipennis may have played a role in budworm decline.

Lypha fumipennis is almost exclusively a parasitoid of Choristoneura species (O’Hara 2002). The other known hosts are a tortricid, Pseudosciaphila duplex (Walsingham), and a pyralid, Dioryctria reniculelloides (Mutuura & Munroe) (O’Hara 2002).