Its distinctive wing shape and long tails make it easy to identify, and its black-and-white-striped pattern is reminiscent of a zebra.

[6][8] Both males and females avidly visit flowers, including species from the families Apocynaceae, Brassicaceae, Fabaceae, Lythraceae, Polemoniaceae, and Rosaceae.

Males participate in a behavior known as puddling, in which individuals congregate on sand, gravel, or moist soil to obtain salts and amino acids.

[6][8] Since the caterpillars are cannibalistic, females lay their eggs singly on pawpaw leaves or on the tree trunks.

[7][10] The larva has a yellow, foul-smelling, forked gland called an osmeterium which it will use to deter predators, especially spiders and ants.

[7] The zebra swallowtail caterpillar feeds on species within the genus Asimina and was found to accept, oviposit and grow on leaves of the tropical soursop- Annona muricata in 1998.

[6] Residents of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania began planting pawpaw with the aim of encouraging the zebra swallowtail to return to its once-northernmost range.