After years, New Zealand’s largest moth emerges without a mouth and lives 2 days
In New Zealand, the pūriri moth undergoes a remarkably long journey to adulthood.
To see it in its final form — massive with “striking camouflage” — is a rare treat.
After spending about five years transitioning through various caterpillar phases, these spectacular creatures live just two days as moths.
The pūriri moth emerges from its chrysalis without a mouth, and “its sole purpose is to produce pheromones to attract a mate and reproduce,” wildlife experts from the Tiritiri Matangi Island said in a Sept. 8 Facebook post.
A volunteer on the island recently came across a female pūriri, also known as pepe tuna, surrounded by eggs in what experts called the “final act of her brief life.”
A single female “can lay up to 2,000 eggs which she scatters across the forest floor,” experts said. About two weeks later, they hatch. The caterpillars then spend two to three months feeding on fungi, experts said.
When this phase of their life is complete, they find a host tree, burrow into it, and seal themselves inside by “weaving a protective web” across the burrow entrance, experts said.
It can spend up to five years as a “tree phase” caterpillar, according to the post.
When it’s finally ready to pupate, it can take between five to six months before it emerges.
They spend the last and shortest phase of their lives begining the cycle over again — “a brief and to us, beautiful, end to a long life,” Tiritiri Matangi Island wildlife officials said.
The species can have a winsgpan up to 3.7 inches, making it New Zealand’s largest, and is found nowhere else in the world.
This story was originally published September 9, 2025 at 2:47 PM with the headline "After years, New Zealand’s largest moth emerges without a mouth and lives 2 days."
