I wasn't in Hungary during June or the first half of July - too hot - for another 4 years after the first sighting of that Burnet-like moth. During these 4 years I had become increasingly interested in moths. So when I arrived in Miskolc in late June 2009 this time I recognised it from an illustration I had seen - the striking, day-flying moth which seemed to be everywhere, in numbers, in woods and gardens, crawling and sprawling over shrubs and window frames... It was the Nine-spotted (Amata phegea, Fehérpettyes álcsüngőlepke) - known to British lepidopterists as the only member of its family, the Ctenuchidae, on the British list.
The Nine-spotted has been recorded just twice in the UK (and even these records have been doubted) - as a rare immigrant - but for this reason is illustrated in our guide books. Even in Hungary , this moth must be regarded as a special taste of the south. According to Waring and Townsend (2003) the Ctenuchidae is a family of some 3000 species mostly tropical in distribution with very few species found wild in Europe . This species is said to be 'local' in southern Europe . One of the ecological themes of the Bükk hills in northeastern Hungary is the mingling of central- and southern- European species in the rich semi-natural habitats of south-facing limestone slopes.
Incidentally, the superficial resemblance of the moth to the poisonous Zygaenidae (Burnets and Foresters) is an example of mimicry, but whether Batesian or Mullerian I do not know for I do not know if the Nine-spotted is palatable or not.