Simulium Latreille, 1802, is the most speciose simuliid genus, comprising almost 75% of the described species of the family Simuliidae (Crosskey & Howard 1997). The genus occurs in all biogeographical regions, although each subgenus is confined to one or more regions. The first uncontroversial fossil assigned to the family is a member of the tribe Prosimuliini (sensu Currie 1988), from the Jurassic/Cretaceous transition, namely: Kovalevimyia lacrimosa Kalugina, 1991, from Siberia (Currie & Grimaldi 2000). The oldest Southern Hemisphere fossil originates from the Cretaceous Koonwarra fossil beds of Australia (135 Mya), and Crosskey & Howard (1997) assigned this species to the African genus Paracnephia Rubtsov, 1962, indicating a Gondwanian origin. Craig et al. (2001) presented a biogeographic analysis of the subgenus S. (Inseliellum) Rubtsov, 1974, and suggested that Simulium ‘evolved’ prior to the separation of New Zealand from Australia/Antarctica (between 80-60 Mya). Crosskey (1990: 58) believed that the family was widespread in Pangea and dated the origin of the family to at least the early Jurassic (200-175 Mya). He considered, however, dispersal to be the main mechanism explaining the current distribution patterns of simuliid genera and subgenera without vicariance playing a crucial role. He also proposed that Antarctica would have been habitable by simuliids at that time, and therefore the continent could have acted as a bridge between Australia and New Zealand, and South America.