| Stalk-eyed flies Temporal range:
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| Diopsis stuckenbergi | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Diptera |
| (unranked): | Cyclorrhapha |
| Section: | Schizophora |
| Superfamily: | Diopsoidea |
| Family: | Diopsidae Billberg, 1820 |
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| Synonyms | |
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Stalk-eyed flies are insects of the fly family Diopsidae. The family is distinguished from most other flies by most members of the family possessing "eyestalks": projections from the sides of the head with the eyes at the end. Some fly species from other families such as Drosophilidae, Platystomatidae, Richardiidae, and Tephritidae have similar heads, but the unique character of the Diopsidae is that their antennae are located on the stalk, rather than in the middle of the head as in all other flies. Stalked eyes are present in all members of the subfamily Diopsinae, but are absent in the Centrioncinae, which retain unstalked eyes similar to those of other flies.[2] The stalked eyes are usually sexually dimorphic, with eyestalks present but shorter in females.[3]
The stalk-eyed flies are up to a centimeter long, and they feed on both decaying plants and animals. Their unique morphology has inspired research into how the attribute may have arisen through forces of sexual selection and natural selection. Studies of the behavior of the Diopsidae have yielded important insights into the development of sexual ornamentation, the genetic factors that maintain such a morphological feature, sexual selection, and the handicap principle.
- ^ Feijen, Hans R. (1983). "Systematics and phylogeny of Centrioncidae, a new afromontane family of Diptera (Schizophora)". Zoologische Verhandelingen. 202: 1–137. Retrieved 30 October 2016.
- ^ Kotrba, Marion; Balke, Michael (March 2006). "The systematic position of Cladodiopsis Séguy, 1949 and the origin of sexual dimorphism in stalk-eyed flies (Diptera: Diopsidae) inferred from DNA sequence data". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 38 (3): 843–847. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2005.11.009. ISSN 1055-7903. PMID 16406820.
- ^ Kotrba, M (2004-12-13). "Baltic amber fossils reveal early evolution of sexual dimorphism in stalk-eyed flies (Diptera: Diopsidae)". Organisms Diversity & Evolution. 4 (4): 265–275. doi:10.1016/j.ode.2004.02.005.