It can't fly, it spends its life hidden among the foliage of a native plant, and its closest relative is in another country. Scientists are now trying to find out more about this elusive insect.

Tasmania, as entomologist Peter McQuillan puts it, is “a Noah’s Ark of ancient species long since lost elsewhere”.

As someone who lives here, anyone with an interest in preserving the natural world needs a hardened heart with how appallingly bad it’s treated.

that aside

One of those living relics is the pandani moth.

The bronze-brown insect is large for its species, with big legs and a purplish reflective hue under light.