Branches rarely die from sequoia pitch moth. The wings have bluish black margins with some yellow at the base. The moth's head and thorax are brownish black, with some yellow. The legs are mostly bright yellow. The abdomen is covered with blackish and yellow hairs in alternating bands, resembling that of a yellowjacket wasp.
Females are somewhat larger and plumper than males.
Unlike females, male clearwing moths have many fine hairlike projections along their antennae. Although the colors and erratic flight behavior of adults resemble those of paper wasps, clearwing moths are not wasps and are stingless and harmless to people and pets. Douglas-fir pitch moth occurs from northern California to Alaska. Instead of yellow as with sequoia pitch moth, the adult Douglas-fir pitch moth is bright orange and blackish. Its biology, life history, and management are similar to those of sequoia pitch moth.