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Avatar Moth Wins 2026 Bug Of The Year
The Avatar moth Arctesthes avatar has been crowned the 2026 Bug of the Year – and Forest & Bird says the win puts a spotlight on the threat facing the entire known habitat of the critically endangered species.
The day-flying moth has a glorious blush of gold on its hindwings and was discovered by entomologist Brian Patrick in 2012 during a bioblitz Forest & Bird ran on the South Island's Denniston Plateau.
After a public naming competition, it was called the Avatar moth because it shares the same fate as Pandora, the planet from the Avatar film series: its home is under serious threat from a mining company.
Forest & Bird thanks the Entomological Society of New Zealand for running the competition and raising awareness about all the unique bug species that call Aotearoa home.
“Bug of the Year is a wonderful way to share more awareness about the fascinating critters all around us,” says Nicola Toki, Chief Executive, Forest & Bird.
“This win is bittersweet. The Avatar moth’s habitat is under threat from a proposed open cast coal mine on the Denniston Plateau.
“There is a real chance that the Government will greenlight destroying the Bug of the Year’s only home – for fossil fuels, no less.”
The competition has raised the profile of bugs like the Avatar moth, the hellraiser mite, and the north Auckland worm. Kiwis everywhere have learnt about the small critters that make up half of New Zealand’s biodiversity.
“With the Avatar moth in the spotlight, the Government has an opportunity to protect Denniston for future generations,” Ms Toki says.
She adds that New Zealanders can support the Avatar moth further by calling on politicians to save Denniston.
People can sign the Forest & Bird petition and join more than 16,000 other New Zealanders to reclassify Denniston's conservation stewardship land as a scientific reserve. Forest & Bird wants to protect the Avatar moth and other taonga species such as the carnivorous snail Powelliphanta patrickensis and roroa great spotted kiwi.
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