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Photo#829898
Orthorrhapha ? - Ptecticus trivittatus

Orthorrhapha ? - Ptecticus trivittatus
Suffern yard, Rockland County, New York, USA
August 24, 2013
Size: ~11 mm ?
Perhaps something in Xylophagidae?
A truckload of fresh wood chips was dumped the day before and attracted a small swarm of a dozen of these. These may not be of the same individual, but at the least they were members of the same swarm. Seldom landing except for a few seconds, they showed feisty behavior and swarmed near the top of the pile.

[The next comment added after the ID input from Yurika, Stephen, and V]
This behavior is mentioned in Marshall's Flies, pg. 200: "These elongate flies are often seen staking out small but prominent male territories or aggregating on fallen fruit and damaged trees."
As I observed it, this king-of-the-mini-mountain macho schtick reminded me of "hilltopping" behavior of some butterfly species.

Images of this individual: tag all
Orthorrhapha ? - Ptecticus trivittatus Orthorrhapha ? - Ptecticus trivittatus Orthorrhapha ? - Ptecticus trivittatus

Moved
Moved from Orthorrhapha.

Ptecticus
How about Stratiomyidae, Ptecticus trivittata? Looks like a good match.

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