![Dragonflyfront](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/91/Dragonflyfront.JPG)
Holoptic refers to one of the ways in which the
arthropod eye
Apposition eyes are the most common form of eye, and are presumably the ancestral form of compound eye. They are found in all arthropod groups, although they may have evolved more than once within this phylum.
Some annelids and bivalves also h ...
develops, particularly the
eyes
Eyes are organs of the visual system. They provide living organisms with vision, the ability to receive and process visual detail, as well as enabling several photo response functions that are independent of vision. Eyes detect light and conve ...
of various species of insects. Unlike
dichoptic and
cycloptic eyes, holoptic eyes meet along the
median dorsal line of the head, in many species nearly covering the exterior of the head. Holoptic eyes are typical of several
Diptera
Flies are insects of the order Diptera, the name being derived from the Greek δι- ''di-'' "two", and πτερόν ''pteron'' "wing". Insects of this order use only a single pair of wings to fly, the hindwings having evolved into advanced ...
n males, in particular some
Syrphidae,
Tabanidae
Horse-flies or horseflies are true flies in the family Tabanidae in the insect order Diptera. They are often large and agile in flight, and only the female horseflies bite animals, including humans, to obtain blood. They prefer to fly in s ...
,
Pipunculidae
Pipunculidae is a family of flies (Diptera) commonly termed big-headed flies, a reference to the large ( holoptic) eyes, which cover nearly the entire head. The family is found worldwide and more than 1300 species have been described.
The larva ...
, and
Acroceridae
The Acroceridae are a small family (biology), 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 frequen ...
. Some other insect orders that include species with holoptic males and some in which the females are holoptic as well, include the
Coleoptera
Beetles are insects that form the order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Endopterygota. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 400,000 describ ...
,
Anisoptera
A dragonfly is a flying insect belonging to the infraorder Anisoptera below the order Odonata. About 3,000 extant species of true dragonfly are known. Most are tropical, with fewer species in temperate regions. Loss of wetland habitat threa ...
, and
Archaeognatha
The Archaeognatha are an order of apterygotes, known by various common names such as jumping bristletails. Among extant insect taxa they are some of the most evolutionarily primitive; they appeared in the Middle Devonian period at about the sa ...
.
References
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Insect anatomy
Eye