Mimicking Fly

At first glance, this looks like a parasitic wasp. But that’s a very Diptera head, with the eyes next to each other and the little Y-shaped antenna. Also, there are only two wings, which is what Di-ptera means. (Wasps, like bees, have four wings.)

This is Xylomya pallidifemur, a wood soldier fly. I haven’t found out too much about this genus, but it looks like their larvae consume dead and decaying wood. This is unusual. Most wasp larvae eat meat, usually from other insects. iNaturalist has 9 observations of three species in the genus in New York City. This is the second for pallidifemur.