The elongated hair of this Prominent moth (Clostera sp.), dipped in brown as they are, resemble a nature-made paintbrush.

I wish I had a better story to go with this striking moth. As usual, I found it whiling away the daylight hours on the restroom facility at Clarksburg State Park. It was difficult to get a full-body shot (as the shot below might indicate; couldn’t quite fit it in landscape and a portrait shot was too awkward to pull off right up against the wall). I was probably towards the end of a day’s worth of shooting and shortchanged this one, and as usual I regret it a bit; it has to be one of the more beautiful moths I have come across. The colors, while not loud like the rainbow, are alternately deep and dark, light and bright. Throw in that fantastic tail (not something you see on your average moth!), and it is quite a stunner. If I may say so.

I am calling it a Clostera sp. in Family Notodontidae, the Prominent moths; but I am pretty sure this one is Clostera albosigma. Two shots after the break/below.

This prominent moth (Clostera sp., likely C. albosigma) was just a little too big to fit into a landscape frame.

A beautiful dark reddish-brown pattern, like a well of mahogany, marks the crown of this Clostera sp.