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Photo#1382465
Fly - Tetanocera

Fly - Tetanocera
Boxford, Essex County, Massachusetts, USA
June 9, 2017

Moved
Moved from Tetanocerini.

My best shot at genus
...is Tetanocera. It keyed to that in Orth & Fisher(1982), with just one unsupportable couplet choice (deciding whether hind tibia has 1 vs. 2 strong pre-apical bristles). The alternative choice (2 pre-apical bristles) would lead to genus Anticheata instead of Tetanocera. Images on the Tetanocera guide page look like a good match.

If Solomon has another image showing the apex of the hind tibia in focus, that would unequivocally settle things...but I'm betting this is Tetanocera at this point.

BTW, Solomon...the full-size version of this photo shows exquisite detail in fantastic focus. It's just that sciomyzid here was holding its hind tibia out of the plane of focus!

 
Thank you very much, Aaron! U
Thank you very much, Aaron! Unfortunately, this and a closeup of the fly's head are all I got before it flew off, so this is all I have. I agree that the images on the Tetanocera page look like a better match.

 
You're welcome, Solomon
It's a great photo of an interesting fly.

There's summary info on life history for this group on the Sciomyzidae "Info page"...and a lot more details in the 1982 Fisher & Orth paper, which is freely available online (see "Print References" at bottom of Info page for link).

Moved
Moved from ID Request.

Reminds me of Pyrotidae
...but I can find no good match there, and I think it's something else.

Hopefully others will recognize it. (And if you have a photo showing wing venation, then this may be amenable to keying out.)

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