Acroceridae

Small-headed flies
Temporal range:
Pterodontia sp. fly
Scientific classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Superorder: Panorpida
(unranked): Antliophora
Order: Diptera
Suborder: Brachycera
Superfamily: Nemestrinoidea
Family: Acroceridae
Leach, 1815
Subfamilies
Synonyms
  • Cyrtidae
  • Ogcodidae
  • Oncodidae

The Acroceridae are a small family of odd-looking flies. They have a hump-backed appearance with a strikingly small head, generally with a long proboscis for accessing nectar. They are rare and not widely known. The most frequently applied common names are small-headed flies or hunch-back flies. Many are bee or wasp mimics. Because they are parasitoids of spiders, they also are sometimes known as spider flies.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.