The Avatar moth takes its name from the 2009 blockbuster movie about a peaceful species who live on an alien moon. But the Avatar moth isn’t blue or alien - it’s a rare and endangered species of day-flying moth found only on the West Coast of the South Island. And like the blue aliens in the movie, the biggest risk to the ongoing survival of this moth is losing its habitat to mining operations.
Photo: CC BY 4.0 Brian Patrick
