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.
Apystomyia is a genus of flies in the family Apystomyiidae. The genus contains the single living Apystomyiidae species, Apystomyia elinguis, which is primarily found in California. Details of its life history are largely unknown. The extinct genus Hilarimorphites is known from the Cretaceous Burmese and New Jersey ambers. Formerly placed in the Asiloidea, molecular phylogenetic studies in 2010 placed the genus unambiguously as a sister of the Cyclorrhapha within the clade Eremoneura.
Philopotinae is a subfamily of small-headed flies. They have an arched body shape, as well as enlarged postpronotal lobes that form a collar behind the head. Their larvae are endoparasites of araneomorph spiders in the subgroup Entelegynae.
Neophilopota is a genus of small-headed flies. It contains only a single species, Neophilopota brevirostris, described by Schlinger in 2013. It is endemic to Mexico.
Panopinae is a subfamily of small-headed flies (Acroceridae). Their larvae are endoparasites of spiders in the infraorder Mygalomorphae.
Coquena is a genus of small-headed fly found in Argentina and Chile. It was first established by Evert I. Schlinger in 2013.
Pialea is a genus of small-headed flies. It is known from South America.
Ogcodes is a cosmopolitan genus of small-headed flies in the family Acroceridae. About 90 species have been described for the genus. It is the most common and speciose genus in its family. These flies are endoparasitoids of ground-dwelling entelegyne spiders.
Eulonchus halli is a species of small-headed flies in the family Acroceridae. It was named after one of its original collectors, Jack C. Hall, who was also a colleague of the species's author, Evert I. Schlinger, at the University of California.
Eulonchus is a genus of small-headed flies in the family Acroceridae. There are six described species in Eulonchus. The genus is found in North America. Adults have a metallic blue, green or sometimes purple coloration, giving them a jewel-like appearance. A common name for flies in the genus is the North American jewelled spider flies. Adults are also known as "sapphires" or "emeralds".
Eulonchus sapphirinus is a species of small-headed flies in the family Acroceridae.
Schlingeromyia is an extinct genus of small-headed flies in the family Acroceridae. The genus is known from Upper Cretaceous fossils in Burmese amber from Myanmar. It contains only one species, Schlingeromyia minuta.
Burmacyrtus is an extinct genus of small-headed flies of uncertain placement. The genus is known from Upper Cretaceous fossils in amber from Myanmar. It contains only one species, Burmacyrtus rusmithi.
Carvalhoa is a genus of small-headed flies in the family Acroceridae. The genus is endemic to Chile. It was originally known as Sphaerops, named by Rodolfo Amando Philippi in 1865. This name was found to be preoccupied by the reptile genus Sphaerops Gray, 1845, so it was renamed to Carvalhoa by Ahmet Ömer Koçak and Muhabbet Kemal in 2013. The genus is named after the Brazilian dipterist Claudio José Barros de Carvalho.
Schlingeriella is a genus of small-headed flies. It contains only one species, Schlingeriella irwini, endemic to New Caledonia.
Panops is a genus of small-headed flies. It is endemic to Australia and the Papua region of Indonesia. Males and females measure 8.0–12.5 mm and 9.5–14.5 mm, respectively. Their larvae are thought to be endoparasites of spiders in the infraorder Mygalomorphae, a trait shared by most other members of the subfamily Panopinae.
Apsona is a genus of small-headed flies. It contains only one species, Apsona muscaria, which is endemic to New Zealand. It is very similar to the North American species Eulonchus smaragdinus.
Sabroskya is a genus of small-headed flies in the family Acroceridae. It is known from South Africa and Malawi. It is named after the American entomologist Curtis Williams Sabrosky.
Cyrtinae is a subfamily of the Acroceridae. Their larvae are endoparasites of araneomorph spiders in the subgroup Entelegynae.
Cretotabanus is a genus of horse flies in the family Tabanidae.
