The Pinyon Pitch Nodule Moth (Retinia arizonensis) is a species of moth

Moth

A moth is an insect closely related to the butterfly, both being of the order Lepidoptera. Moths form the majority of this order; there are thought to be 150,000 to 250,000 different species of moth , with thousands of species yet to be described...

 of the Tortricidae

Tortricidae

Tortricidae is a family of moths, commonly known as tortrix moths, in the order Lepidoptera. Tortricidae is a large family with over 9,400 species described, and is the sole member of the superfamily Tortricoidea. Many of these are economically important pests. Olethreutidae is a junior synonym...

 family. It is found in North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

.
The wingspan

Wingspan

The wingspan of an airplane or a bird, is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777 has a wingspan of about ; and a Wandering Albatross caught in 1965 had a wingspan of , the official record for a living bird.The term wingspan, more technically extent, is...

 is about 19 mm. Adults are rusty brown. The forewings are mottled with brown, white, and silver scales. There is one generation with a peak flight period in late July and early August

The larvae feed on Pinyon pine

Pinyon pine

The pinyon pine group grows in the southwestern United States and in Mexico. The trees yield edible pinyon nuts, which were a staple of the Native Americans, and are still widely eaten...

. They feed on the terminal growth, causing twig dieback. Young larvae first feed on the young needle tissue before tunnelling into shoots. A round nodule of purple-red pitch from which the larvae feed is produced around the feeding site. The larvae are reddish-yellow with a black head. The species overwinters in the larval stage within the pitch nodule.