The 11-year-old is a master spotter of animals — insects, in particular.
Since his insect-spotting started when he was 5, Luca has tallied more than 19,000 observations and 1800 species on the iNaturalist platform. That is the sixth-most insect observations in the country — a significant contribution to biodiversity data.
A citizen science resource, iNaturalist allows members of the public with phones and cameras to upload photos of fauna or flora they have observed, allowing people who know their stuff help to identify them.
Luca said he was not one for big animals. He would rather go moth hunting than lion taming.
In his backyard, he has found more than 800 species, including 300 moths.
‘‘I love to go outside in our garden It’s amazing ... a lot of them are moths. Most weekends we get out and look around or sometimes we go to other places around, like Orokonui and other places in the forest, to look for creatures.’’
His biggest find was in Lewis Pass last summer when he discovered a rare moth, last seen 102 years ago.
‘‘We were out looking, staying in a motel there. We just put out a white sheet with UV lights that reflect off the sheet, and the moths come and land on the sheet, because they’re attracted to light.
‘‘And that one was just there, which was pretty amazing. It was actually really quite large for a New Zealand moth. And it had like bright orange-yellow underwings, and it was really stunning.’’
The experts at iNaturalist were really excited to see it, he said.
He did not know why he liked moths so much, but he found them to be pretty awesome.
‘‘There’s not really many people that are into moths around New Zealand, and it’s one of the best places in the world to find them. There’s always new ones to see, and it’s just a fun thing to do.’’
Luca said he was not guided into the insect-spotting by his parents — he just went out one day into the backyard, started looking and had loved it ever since.
The year 7 Rudolf Steiner School pupil said his dream was to become an entomologist.
He also loved taking photographs of the creatures, and had became very talented with a camera. He started out with a small point-and-shoot camera but had upgraded his equipment and was now winning awards.
Currently he has seven photos in an Otago Museum exhibition.
