---

Is this a strange Syrphidae? Or maybe a Stratiomyidae?

---

Strange indeed. Lipara lucens is very large for a chloropid. This species makes ciger-shaped galls on Phragmites; the galls are easier to find than the flies.

---

Thx!

This is a real giant in this family. All the chloropids that I had seen so far were in the 2-4 mm range. This was 2-3 times as long.

I made this photo next to a small creek with a limited amount of reeds in the vicinity.

---

My rather limited experience is that Lipara prefers reeds growing on land and perhaps also sparse stands over the real dense reed beds.