We examined final-stage larvae of all currently recognized lower cyclorrhaphan (= Aschiza) families, except Ironomyiidae and Sciadoceridae, and those of the higher cyclorrhaphan (= Schizophora) families Calliphoridae, Conopidae, Lonchaeidae, Muscidae, and Ulidiidae, and compared them with larvae of two out-group families, Rhagionidae and Dolichopodidae, paying particular attention to structures of the head. A set of 86 morphological characters were analysed phylogenetically. The results show that the lower Cyclorrhapha is paraphyletic in relation to the higher Cyclorrhapha. The monophyly of the Cyclorrhapha is strongly supported. The lower Cyclorrhapha is resolved into two clades, based on the Lonchopteridae. Within the Syrphidae the traditional three-subfamily system is supported, based on the Microdontinae. Within the lower Cyclorrhapha, the larval head is variable in form and arrangement of components. In Lonchopteridae, the mouth lies at the back of an open trough or furrow, comprising ventrally an elongate labium and laterally the maxilla. This arrangement of components appears to facilitate scooping food in water films. In Platypezoidea there is no furrow, and the dorsolateral lobes bearing the antennae are connected by a dorsal extension of the pseudocephalon. The main food-gathering structure is the hooked apex of the labium, but in Phoridae the mandibles may also be important. In Eumuscomorpha the mandibles are at the apex of the head skeleton. The pseudocephalon is extended and infolded dorsally to form an oral pocket over the mouth. In the Pipunculidae, and the Microdontinae and Syrphinae of the Syrphidae, ventrally it forms a V-shaped groove or guide along which the mandibles project. The labium is sclerotized apically, and forms a plate or tapered projection. This arrangement of components facilitates holding, piercing and extracting prey tissues. In Eristalinae the pseudocephalon is attached to the mandibles and is formed into a pair of cirri bearing mandibular lobes that lie either side of the mouth. Furthermore, the epipharynx is produced anteriorly in relation to the hypopharynx, and the labium is attached to the anterior part of the epipharynx to form a cavity or atrium. This arrangement is suited to fragmenting and imbibing solid food in Eristalinae with hooked mandibles, and when the mandibles are reduced and the mandibular lobes are inverted and sclerotized, these structures form a filter for separating fluid-suspended particulate food. In higher Cyclorrhapha an atrium is present as in Eristalinae, but a connection between the pseudocephalon and the mandibles is absent. Instead, the pseudocephalon is bifurcate dorsally and forms a pair of cephalic lobes that ventrally ensheath each mandible. The surface of the sheath may be coated in cirri and other food-gathering structures. The cephalic lobes, mandibular sheaths and the head skeleton are maneuverable and retractile to a higher degree than in lower Cyclorrhapha. This arrangement of components facilitates feeding on both solid food, in which the mouthooks may extend from the sheath to break the food up, and particulate and suspended food, in which the food-gathering structures of the sheath scoop up the food. In many higher Cyclorrhapha, maneuverability is enhanced by a break between the labium and the basal sclerite, to which it is fused in all lower Cyclorrhapha. Intermediate characters and states for the structures of the higher cyclorrhaphan larval head are present in out-groups, and lower Cyclorrhapha and homologies are discussed. Liquidity of the food is an important factor explaining the structure of the larval head in Cyclorrhapha. © 2008 The Linnean Society of London, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2008, 153, 287‐323.