I have been interested in Lepidoptera, moths in particular, since the late 1960s. I got a degree in Biology and PhD in Evolutionary Biology. I worked in nature conservancy in Italy as a biology forestry officer and then as zoologist at the Rome zoology museum, holding several roles, among which those of curator of entomology and responsible of scientific and curatorial policies. Currently, I am responsible of the Noctuoidea collection (Lepidoptera) at the Natural History Museum, London.