Belongs within: Orthorrhapha.
Contains: Ogcodes.
The Acroceridae, small-headed flies, are a group of flies that develop as endoparasitoids of spiders. As indicated by the vernacular name, the head is small and mostly taken up by the enlarged, often holoptic compound eyes.
Members of the subfamily Philopotinae are distinguished from other subfamilies by strongly developed postpronotal lobes, coming together to form a shield in front of the mesonotum. Panopinae have the tibiae produced on the outer apical margin into an acute spur, often in association with a shorter inner spur, and the antennal flagellum is long, rounded or flattened (Schlinger 2009).
Characters (from Schlinger 1981): Small to large flies, 2.5-21 mm long. Head small to medium-sized, consisting mostly of large compound eyes. Abdomen globose, globose-elongate, or narrow and tapering or parallel-sided; color dull or shiny and often bright metallic green, blue, red, or purple, or sometimes brown, black, orange, yellow, or white with maculations on abdomen and with vittae on mesonotum. Some species bee-like, others wasp-like, and some even beetle-like, many appearing to be mimics. Family characterised by following combination of morphological structures: three-segmented antenna, small head, large calypter, pulvilliform empodia, simple unbranched R2, and body without bristles.
Acroceridae [Cyrtidae, Cyrtidi, Inflatae, Oncodinae, Vesiculosidae]S09
|--AcrocytinaeS09
|--PhilopotinaeS09
| |--Philopota Wiedem. 1830 [incl. Oligoneura Bigot 1878]B90
| | `--P. truquiiS09
| |--Prophilopota succineaS81
| |--Eulonchiella eocenicaS81
| |--Megalybus Philippi 1865S09, B90
| `--Thyllis splendensS09, S81
|--PanopinaeS09
| |--Eulonchus Gerstäcker 1856S09, B90
| | `--E. halliS09
| |--Ocnaea Erichson 1840S09, B90
| | `--O. smithiS09
| |--Pialea Erichson 1840S09, B90
| | `--P. ecuadorensisS81
| |--RhysogasterS81
| |--Panops Lamarck 1804B90
| | `--P. bandiniiG20
| |--Apelleia Bellardi 1862S09, B90
| | |--A. grossaS09
| | `--A. vittataS09
| |--Lasia Wiedem. 1824S09, B90
| | |--L. coleiS09
| | |--L. purpurataS09
| | `--L. rostrataS09
| `--Pterodontia Griffith 1833S09, B90
| |--P. flavipesA71
| |--P. misellaS81
| |--P. vixS09
| `--P. westwoodiS09
`--AcrocerinaeS09
|--Villalites electricaS81
|--Glaesoncodes completinervisS81
|--Turbopsebius Schlinger 1972S81
| |--*T. diligens [=Opsebius diligens]S81
| `--T. sulphuripesS81
|--Acrocera Meigen 1803B90
| |--A. bimaculataS81
| |--A. bullaS81
| |--A. convexaS09
| |--A. globulusA71
| |--A. hirsutaS81
| |--A. sanguineaG20
| `--A. subfasciataS81
`--OgcodesS09
Acroceridae incertae sedis:
SabroskyaS81
ProtogcodesS81
HadrogasterS81
NipponcyrtusS81
MeruiaS81
Dimacrocolus paulianiS81
CamposellaS81
VillalusS81
ArchipialeaS81
Arrhynchus Philippi 1871B90
Exetasis Walker 1853S09
`--E. eickstedtaeS09
Psilodera Griffith 1833B90
|--P. bipunctataR01
|--P. cingulataR01
`--P. fasciatus Widem. 1819 [=Cyrtus fasciatus, P. fasciata; incl. P. capensis]R01
Leucopsina Westw. 1876B90
`--L. odyneroidesC91
Terphis Erichson 1840B90
PanocaldaCM91
MesophysaCM91
Cyrtus Latreille 1796B90
|--*C. acephalus [=Empis acephala]L02
`--C. gibbusG20
NeopanopsO98
Plagiocera haemorrhoa Gerst. 1873R01
Asarkina salviae Fabr. 1794R01
‘Cteniza’ Brauer 1869 non Latreille 1829B90
Pteropexus Macquart 1846B90
Mesophyza Macquart 1838B90
Astomella marginataB90, G20
Epicerina Macquart 1850B90
Pialoidea Westw. 1876B90
Physegaster Macquart 1847B90, E12
`--P. maculatus Macquart 1847E12
Apsona Westw. 1876B90
Mesocera Macquart 1838B90
Sphoerogaster Zetterstedt 1842B90
Holops Philippi 1865B90
Sphoerops Philippi 1865B90
Opsebius Costa 1856 [incl. Pithogaster Löw 1857]B90
Eriosoma Macquart 1838B90
Nothra Westw. 1876B90
`--N. americana Bigot 1889B90
‘Thersites’ Philippi 1871 nec Pfeiffer 1855 nec Bate 1857B90
Paracrocera Mik 1886B90
*Type species of generic name indicated
References
[A71] Askew, R. R. 1971. Parasitic Insects. Heinemann Educational Books: London.
[B90] Bigot, J.-M.-F. 1890. Diptères nouveaux ou peu connus. 35e partie. Annales de la Société Entomologique de France, 6e série 9: 313–328.
[CM91] Colless, D. H., & D. K. McAlpine. 1991. Diptera (flies). In: CSIRO. The Insects of Australia: A textbook for students and research workers 2nd ed. vol. 2 pp. 717–786. Melbourne University Press: Carlton (Victoria).
[C91] CSIRO. 1991. The Insects of Australia: A textbook for students and research workers 2nd ed. vol. 1. Melbourne University Press: Carlton (Victoria).
[E12] Evenhuis, N. L. 2012. Publication and dating of the Exploration Scientifique de l’Algérie: Histoire Naturelle des Animaux Articulés (1846–1849) by Pierre Hippolyte Lucas. Zootaxa 3448: 1–61.
[G20] Goldfuss, G. A. 1820. Handbuch der Naturgeschichte vol. 3. Handbuch der Zoologie pt 1. Johann Leonhard Schrag: Nürnberg.
[L02] Latreille, P. A. 1802. Histoire Naturelle, générale et particulière des crustacés et des insectes vol. 3. Familles naturelles des genres. F. Dufart: Paris.
[O98] Oosterbroek, P. 1998. The Families of Diptera of the Malay Archipelago. Brill: Leiden.
[R01] Ricardo, G. 1901. Notes on Diptera from South Africa (concluded). Annals and Magazine of Natural History, series 7, 7: 89–110.
[S81] Schlinger, E. I. 1981. Acroceridae. In: McAlpine, J. F., B. V. Peterson, G. E. Shewell, H. J. Teskey, J. R. Vockeroth & D. S. Wood (eds) Manual of Nearctic Diptera vol. 1 pp. 575–584. Research Branch, Agriculture Canada.
[S09] Schlinger, E. I. 2009. Acroceridae (spider flies, small-headed flies). In: Brown, B. V., A. Borkent, J. M. Cumming, D. M. Wood, N. E. Woodley & M. A. Zumbado (eds) Manual of Central American Diptera vol. 1 pp. 551–556. NRC Research Press: Ottawa.