[3] There are five subspecies: Schaus' swallowtail has black-brown wings with yellow markings and a broad rusty patch underneath the hindwing.

Adults have been observed taking nectar from blossoms of guava, cheese shrub, hibiscus and wild coffee.

[12] Caterpillar host plants are in the family Rutaceae and include hoptree (Ptelea trifoliata), citrus species, sea torchwood (Amyris elemifera), and lime prickly-ash (Zanthoxylum fagara).

Historically it occurred in tropical hardwood hammock from South Miami to Lower Matecumbe Key, Florida.

While they inhabit the islands around southern Florida, they are known to live at a relatively high elevation (3.0 to 4.6 meters above sea level), staying away from the tidal waters.

[15] It is also found in The Bahamas, Hispaniola (the Dominican Republic and Haiti), the Cayman Islands, Cuba, and possibly Puerto Rico.

[16] Research also notes that male Schaus' swallowtail butterflies are remarkably adapted to flight within hardwood hammocks and are able to pick their way among branches and around spider webs.

Schaus' swallowtail butterflies have a single annual flight season, primarily in May and June, where adults are active; most sightings have been recorded between mid-April and mid-July.

[22] They have also, over time, developed the unique ability to stop in mid-air and fly backwards in order to avoid their predators, such as birds, lizards, spiders, etc.

[22] S. a. ponceanus was listed as endangered by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service in 1984 due to dramatic declines in numbers and contraction of range.

For instance in 1992, Hurricane Andrew devastated the region and nearly wiped out the entire population of Schaus's swallowtail, leaving only 73 documented individual survivors.

[29] Due to the rapid reproduction cycle of butterflies, the breeding program at the University of Florida resulted with more than a thousand larvae within two years.

In June 2014 a first batch of eleven adult females, four males and 308 larvae were released on Elliott Key within Biscayne National Park.