HELP ID this strange flying insect

Last year we had these all over our cedar fence and metal shed. They are a burgundy color with striped wings and large heads. I would think they are a type of flying ant but I can't find anything with an ID online.

Last year we had huge trees taken down in our yard, and they seemed to have appeared after the trees were removed. This year there a tons of them in the same vicinity but now also all over our brick house and patio. I've only found one picture online of it but that person did not know what it was.

The pictures didn't upload for some reason--

JC33

This forum is for questions relating to adding data to the BugFiles database.

We have a forum on Insect and Spider Identification here: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/f/bugid/all/
and if you post your question there, you may get some help,

If you have an image, you could attach it to the message you post for a better chance of getting an identification

Having said all that I can probably identify your insect. You can see in your photos that it only has one pair of wings. It is one of the Picture-winged Flies in the family Ulidiidae. It is quite possibly Delphinia picta as pictured here: http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/misc/flies/delphinia_picta.htm

Kennedy
BugFiles Administrator