The most striking New Zealand butterfly is the forest ringlet. Most are orange and black, with ringlets on their wings. They are very fast fliers and are found along forest edges. They live in sedges and snow grasses. There are over 1,760 species of moths in New Zealand, and most of them are endemic.
Moths fly at night.
Most of them are dull coloured. Their feelers are feathery or pointed and never clubbed. Male moths have more have more feathery feelers than female moths. They use them for smelling out the females. A male moth can find a female moth 11 kilometres away.