The Pyrgotidae are an unusual family of flies (Diptera), one of only two families of Cyclorrhapha that lack ocelli. Most species are "picture-winged" (i.e., have patterns of bands or spots on the wings), as is typical among the Tephritoidea, but unlike other tephritoids, they are endoparasitoids; the females pursue scarab beetles in flight, laying an egg on the beetle's back under the elytra where the beetle cannot reach it. The egg hatches and the fly larva enters the body cavity of the beetle, feeding and eventually killing the host before pupating. In the United States, some species of Pyrgota and Sphecomyiella can be quite common in areas where their host beetles (typically the genus Phyllophaga, or "June beetles") are abundant. Like their host beetles, these flies are primarily nocturnal, and are often attracted to artificial lights.[2][3]
Female of species of Pyrgotidae, showing the prominent ovipositorDorsal aspect of same fly; note the absence of the ocelli
^ abcdHendel, Friedrich (1913). "Neue Beitrage zur Kenntnis der Pyrgotinen"(PDF). Archiv für Naturgeschichte. Abteilung A: Original-Arbeiten. 79 (11): 77–117, pl. 1. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
^Waga, A. (1842). "Adapsilia. Genre de Dipteres apparenant a la sous-tribu Dolichoceres de Macquart, voisin de Sepedon et Tetanocera". Annales de la Société Entomologique de France. II (1): 279–282.
^ abcdParamonov, S. J. (1958). "A review of Australian Pyrgotidae (Diptera)". Australian Journal of Zoology. 6: 89–137. doi:10.1071/zo9580089.
^Hardy, D. E. (1954). "Notes and descriptions on Australian fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritidae)". Proceedings of the Hawaiian Entomological Society. 15: 327–333.
^Steyskal, G. C. (1978). "Synopsis of the North American Pyrgotidae (Diptera)". Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington. 80. The Entomological Society of Washington: 149–155.
^ abAczél, M. L. (1956). "Revisión parcial de las Pyrgotidae neotropicales y antárticas, con sinopsis de los géneros y especies (Diptera, Acalyptratae). Parte I". Revista Brasileira de Entomologia. 4: 161–184.
^ abcdefghijkEnderlein, G. (1942). "Klassifikation der Pyrogotiden". Sitzungsberichte der Gesellschaft Naturforschender Freunde zu Berlin. 2: 98–134.
^ abHendel, Friedrich (1908). "Acht neue Pyrgotinen (Dipt.)". Wiener Entomologische Zeitung. 27: 145–153.
^ abcdeHendel, Friedrich (1934). "Übersicht über die Gattungen der Pyrgotiden, nebst Beschreibung neuer Gattungen und Arten". Encyclopédie Entomologique. Serie B. II. Diptera. 7: 141–156.
^Curran, Charles Howard (1934). The families and genera of North American Diptera. New York: Ballou Press. pp. 512 pp. 2 pls.
^Malloch, John Russell (1930). "Exotic Muscaridae (Diptera). XXIX". The Annals and Magazine of Natural History. 10 (5): 465–484. doi:10.1080/00222933008673157.
^Bezzi, Mario (1914). "Indian Pyrgotinae (Diptera)". The Annals and Magazine of Natural History. 8 (14): 153–163. doi:10.1080/00222931408693560.
