Student bitten by the bug

Otago Daily Times

4 days ago

A Mountainview High School international student's report on South Canterbury creepy-crawlies has made it on to Japanese bookshelves.
Avid bug and insect hunter Shou Saito, 17, has been studying in South Canterbury since arriving from Japan in 2023.
His report, "Living in a remote corner on the frontier of the South Island, New Zealand", has been published in the latest edition of the Japanese Strange Insect quarterly magazine.
It featured images and descriptions of South Canterbury fauna he had come across like the Neotrichozetes spinulosa, a native spiky mite found in Claremont Bush, and the Alexander beetle, a species of South Island endemic ground beetle that can be found near the Otipua Wetland.
Shou said he had been asked to write the report by an acquaintance in Japan after having previously published a small scientific report on a moth in another magazine last year.
"I got a message asking if I would like to write about a New Zealand living thing and I was like 'oh yes'.
"It's quite a nerdy magazine and features creatures from all around the world. People can purchase the magazine in museums in Japan, or bookstores in Tokyo or other towns.
"Not a lot of Japanese people come to New Zealand and especially this place [South Canterbury] because it's quite rural and in the countryside, so it would be quite uncommon for them to know about it."
After working at a Timaru restaurant part-time, he saved up, bought a camera and said he now spends a lot of his time exploring and capturing different aspects of nature in the region.
"I've been interested in nature ever since I was small. I was living in an old apartment in Japan which had many creatures like geckos and big beetles nearby.
"I like to get out and take photos every day of any living things. I often post my observations on a website called iNaturalist, which is a non-profit social network of naturalists and citizen scientists.
"Claremont Bush, Otipua Wetland and the Washdyke Lagoon are my favourite places to visit in the area."
He said there were a lot of differences between Japanese and New Zealand nature.
"New Zealand nature is great because it's quite bushy and there is a lot of moisture. Japan is closer to the equator which makes it a lot drier.
"There are still lots of interesting things in Japan but not like New Zealand with its more jungle-like bush.
"A lot of the nature in South Canterbury is gone because of farming and many of the living things have gone extinct such as giant moa. The introduction of pests and introduced species destroyed a lot of the environment but there are still a few places the native species can relax.
"I am impressed with the resilience of the native species here."
Shou said his dream was to eventually write and publish his own book or photography magazine on his findings.
"I'm just really interested in nature things.
"This is my last year in the country so I would like to explore even more of New Zealand. I especially would like to see some native gecko species, bones of extinct birds and the Helmes beetle.
"I am also looking forward to starting as a volunteer at the South Canterbury Museum soon, and in the future I plan to study invertebrate or content related them at university."
[e-mail]