Abstract.The chironomid subfamily Aphroteniinae is revised for the Australian fauna. The larval‐based genusAnaphroteniaBrundin is synonymized withAphroteniellaBrundin, andAnaphrotenia lacustrisBrundin withAphroteniella filicomisBrundin, and all stages redescribed and illustrated. A second Australian species,Aphroteniella tenuicornisBrundin, has been reared and the larva is described and the pupa and male redescribed here.Paraphrotenia fasclpennisBrundin, previously known only from the Australian type locality, is reported from a second site. The pupa and previously unde‐scribed female adult are described and figured.AphroteniaBrundin, previously known only from Cape Province, South Africa, is recorded from Australia throughAphrotenia australiensis, newly described here and taking the authorship of Hergstrom. An unreared and unnamed larva ofAphroteniais described and figured.Aphrotenia, and thus the subfamily, can be dated through a vicariance paradigm substantiated by a Cretaceous fossil record, to a minimum of 120 m.y.b.p.Keys are given to larva, pupa and adults of the Australian Aphrotenii