However, would I not then be required to have a long cylendrical abdomen instead of the truncated bump that I bear?

the males fold their tail end under the last two abdominal segments to hide their reproductive organs thus give a truncated bump appearance, otherwise they are cylindrical enough to be a Cylindromyia - chen

Thanks.

First the disclaimer: I am no dipterist:-) But, I thought for certain that not all the Trichopoda had the feathery legs. That is the genus I would place this one in. The Cylindromyia specimens I have look nothing like this, and they were ID'd by Dr. James O'Hara, a Canadian tachinid authority.

Thanks for bring my attention to this nice fly. I based my id on the Manual of Nearctic Diptera, Volume 2, page 1258, and couplet 272. Key to genera of Tachinidae. Unless I interpreted the key incorrectly, the key states “Hind tibia with dorsal longitudinal row of long flattened black-like setae, each as long as width of tibia at its point of attachment, flanked by a second row of similarly shaped but much shorter setae” for the genus Trichopoda. This makes me to believe that one needs feathery legs to be Trichopoda - Chen

The lack of "feathers" was the only visual feature that didn't fit for me.

I see is that I am conducting a risky business when id flies solely based on the image. There are lots of crucial characters that are hidden from my view. Keep that in mind and as long as we are having fun, then I am happy to check into all point of view, take the risk and give my best shot - Chen

Chen, that is the joy. No one has to be an authority here but everyone has a voice. The journey is pushing the frontier of what can be determined visually. That limits the precision of identification but puts it back into the realm of human experience - we can actually see what we study in life instead of identifying it only after it is dead and no longer observable.

Steve. Let the fun carry on.....Chen

Could this be a Xanthomelanodes? Compare:

The image above does not look that similar to other Cylindromyia we have ID'd here.

I just posted a similar fly on Flickr, thinking it was a Cylindromyia, but now I'm not so sure.

Ideas? I realize this may be a near-impossible endeavor.

as Xanthomelanodes sp. I would trust Dr. Norm Woodley's ids on this since he is one of the experts on Tachinidae flies. - Chen

Plus some that may be Cylindromyia

Quoting from Herschel Raney's key to eastern tachinids, which is excerpted from the Manual of Nearctic Diptera:
205. Palpus present. Vibrissae arising distinctly above lower margin of face. Legs yellowish basally, darkened apically--> Xanthomelanodes 2nd Townsend (3/5)

205. Palpus absent. Vibrissae level with lower margin of face. Legs entirely dark--> Cylindromyia Meigen (11/17 in 5 subgenera)

I think it would be hard to see the palpus (a mouthpart) on most photos, but it should be easy to see legs and often the vibrissae (with a shot of the face).