Overview
A small family of grotesquely inflated flies, with a 'humped' back.
Most of the species are rare, but
Ogcodes
is sometimes taken in considerable numbers. The early stages are internal parasites of spiders (Schlinger 1987). Eggs of
Ogcodes
are often laid in large numbers on wire fences, clothes lines and even radio-telescopes; but practically nothing is known of life histories in Australia. Also called Cyrtidae.
Description
These flies are remarkable in that many species have a very small head in comparison to the remainder of the body. Some genera have the eyes holoptic in both sexes (apparently fused in
Pterodontia
), contact being below the long antennae in
Panops
and the wasp-like
Leucopsina
, and above the very short antennae in
Pterodontia
and
Ogcodes
. Acroceridae are thought to be closely related to Nemestrinidae.
Distribution
Leucopsina
,
Panocalda,
and
Mesophysa
are endemic,
Panops
occurs also in South America, while
Pterodontia
and
Ogcodes
are cosmopolitan (Paramonov 1957; Neboiss 1971).