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Massachusetts, USA October 13, 2019 on large Asteraceae.

I think this is a female Leptometopa latipes. We have another species, halteralis. The description of the second species reads "front wholly polished" and "thorax and scutellum polished" and does not mention a yellow ring on the middle of the fore tibia.

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Face. Note lunule extended between antennae.

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Hello John,

I found neotropical keys which indicate that the mesonotum is shiny black for halteralis.

I think that it is L. latipes but i'm certainly not an expert. I have a male with enlarged hind tibia so it is easier for me to id my specimen. My specimen also has yellow rings on the tibiae. Photo attached of a male but the enlarged hind tibiae is not visible in this photo.

i have extension tubes on a pro 1:1 macro but i'm still unable to capture small flies well. I guess i need a pro camera (with a crop sensor?) too.

Paul may be able to confirm the id...

Best wishes,
John

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i finally got a minute to do more research and i now have no doubts that it is L. latipes.

meantime, i found a photo of a species that fits the description of L. halteralis at boldsystems website:
http://v3.boldsystems.org/index.php/Taxbrowser_Taxonpage?taxid=598145

Furthermore, it seems that you have this species documented at bugguide but it is not officially identified as halteralis:
https://bugguide.net/node/view/219972

I will add a note at bugguide.

additional notes:
Irina Brake has a description of latipes which mentions the yellow rings on the tibiae:
http://milichiidae.info/taxonomy/term/385/descriptions

Best wishes,
John

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Today, a male was at the same flowers.

The last flowering plants by my house are planted Hibiscus, wild Ageratina altissima (Asteraceae), and planted Nipponanthemum nipponicum (Asteraceae). The last attracts a lot of insects. Bees (Bombus) sleep on the flowers.

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Hello John,

Congrats! I am happy for you! Very nice photo showing the hind tibia too!

I have only encountered a single male thus far. My Wife and our Son found it inside of our flat at the balcony doors. It was resting on the glass. I needed my macro lens to see it. I thought it was a Chloropid until i looked at it through my macro lens. I've never seen them before. I've seen Desmometopa in the field, so i know the biology of that genus. I know very little about Leptometopa. I hope to find a female and learn more about their biology.

Thank you for mentioning the flowering plants. I will keep this in mind for our balcony!

By the way, we had Chrysanthemum hybrids at our balcony, so maybe L. latipes was attratced to the flowers. The hybrid could be indicum but i have to ask my Wife if it is correct or not. I am not a botanist for sure. I know that Oscinella frit liked the Chrysanthemum hybrids and also Scatophila caviceps. I am eager to place more plants at my balcony for next year. We have some wintering plants now but i need to ask my Wife the names of these plants. I will also try to be better at botany.

fyi: i have an appointment with my orthopedist in the morning. He will inform me when my second surgery will take place. I have a second problem in my shoulder which is causing pain and preventing me from moving my arm in certain directions. I am mentioning this because i will not be posting for a few days (day before, day of and day after surgery).

Nice work, John! Now i hope that you also find L. halteralis.

Best wishes,
John