Scientists came across a new family of moth in some remote and unexplored region of Australia. The new species sheds light on the way moths and butterflies developed 80 to 100 million years ago.

The Aenigmatinea glatzella, or ‘Enigma moth’, was found on Kangaroo Island in South Australia. The discovery was made in 2009 by local scientist Richard Glatz and published in the Systematic Entomology journal.

The island is only 100km from Adelaide and 13km from the mainland that has been settled since 1836. It is considered to be one of the loveliest destinations for a holiday.

The moth is shielded by gold and purple wings that are about 4mm long, making the creatures exceptionally beautiful. The males and females have golden metallic purple wings respectively.

The enigma moth represents the first family of primitive moths that were identified in the world since the 1970s and is regarded by scientists as a ‘living dinosaur’.

It has an odd mixture of physical characters that makes it difficult to place within an evolutionary framework. The wings and genitalia of these discovered species are primitive.

The solution lies in compare moth’s DNA sequence to its potential relatives. The moth’s closest relatives have a tongue and Aenigmatinea has lost its tongue over time.

Dr Ted Edwards, an honorary fellow at the CSIRO's Australian National Insect Collection, is part of the international team that analyzed and described the enigma moth after it was discovered.

He said that the evolution of the moth family is far more complex than previously thought the enigma moth retained many other structural features associated with primitive moth species which lived 40 to 50 million years ago.