| Small-headed flies Temporal range:
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|---|---|
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| Pterodontia sp. fly | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Superorder: | Panorpida |
| (unranked): | Antliophora |
| Order: | Diptera |
| Suborder: | Brachycera |
| Superfamily: | Nemestrinoidea |
| Family: | Acroceridae Leach, 1815 |
| Subfamilies[1] | |
| Synonyms | |
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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.[2] Many are bee or wasp mimics. Because they are parasitoids of spiders, they also are sometimes known as spider flies.[3]
- ^ Gillung, Jessica P.; Winterton, Shawn L. (2019). "Evolution of fossil and living spider flies based on morphological and molecular data (Diptera, Acroceridae)". Systematic Entomology. 44 (4): 820–841. doi:10.1111/syen.12358.
- ^ Gillung, Jéssica P.; Winterton, Shaun L. (2011). "New genera of philopotine spider flies (Diptera, Acroceridae) with a key to living and fossil genera". ZooKeys (127): 15–27. doi:10.3897/zookeys.127.1824. PMC 3175128. PMID 21998545.
- ^ Stubbs, A.; Drake, M. (2014). British Soldierflies and their Allies (2 ed.). Wokingham: British Entomological and Natural History Society. p. 528. ISBN 9781899935079.