A moth with sparkling gold and purple wings dating back to at least 40 million years has been discovered in Australia.

Researchers from Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) describe Aenigmatinea glatzella (or as "enigma," for short), as a moth just 10 millimeters long but that has a huge in impact.

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It's a "living dinosaur," as scientists described it.

It's the first time since the 1970s that a new family of primitive moths has been identified anywhere in the world.

The enigma moth lives on Kangaroo Island off South Australia's coast. It thrives in Southern Cypress pine trees, a very ancient element of flora going back to the supercontinent Gondwana.

The lives of these adult moths are short. They emerge from their cocoons, mate, females lay their eggs, and then die -- all in one day.

CSIRO researcher Ted Edwards said DNA analysis and appearance characteristics of the moth show the evolution of moths and butterflies is even more complex than originally thought.

"It also suggests that tongues evolved in moths and butterflies more than once," Edwards said.

It's a new find reinforcing evolutionary relationships between other primitive moth families

Australia is thought to be home to about 22,000 species of moths and butterflies, of which about half have been named. And the country is something of a haven for species that thrived tens of millions years ago.

TagsLiving Dinosaur Moth in Australia, Australia, Moth, Aenigmatinea glatzella, enigma, butterflies, ancient moth, ancient insect, animal discovery, primitive moths