[3] Z. tuberculatus was previously considered a strictly tropical fly, but evidence of invasion to nontropical regions such as Turkey has been shown.

[3] The life cycle of the fly depends on the temperature of the environment as males are sterile at or above 30 degrees Celsius.

[6][7] In regard to other organisms, Z. tuberculatus is considered a secondary pest to fruit and a potential threat to ecosystems it invades.

[2] The frons have a medium-white stripe and the aedeagus is robust and curved[5] and they have a dark-brown colored thorax.

[2] Z. tuberculatus shares several common features with other members of the genus Zaprionus, including a completely smooth larval cephalopharyngeal.

[5] Zaprionus tuberculatus, originally from islands near the Indian Ocean and Afrotropical Region, then became invasive and expanded geographically to southern Europe.

[2] Within the Afrotropical region, the species has been reported in Mauritius, Réunion, Madagascar, Saint-Helena, Cape Verde, and Seychelles .

[3] Z. tuberculatus has been reported in a few other areas of Europe, including Spain, Greece, and Northern Italy.

Zaprionus tuberculatus is an invasive species, meaning its spread from one geographical region to other may harm to existing ecosystems.

[5] Similarly, another taxonomic measurement, the horn index (H) discriminates Z. tuberculatus (H= 7.0) from closely related fly species such as Z. verruca (H=10.6) and Z. burlai (H = 7.2).

[5] Unlike other species of Drosophila such as D. melanogaster, for Z. tuberculatus pupae synapsis is uncommon and tend to pupariate upwards relate to the ground instead of downwards.

"Type 2" songs are sung between two male Z. tuberculatus flies and its function is species recognition.

At the conclusion of copulation, female Z. tuberculatus protrudes the abdomen and secreted a colorless liquid, which appears to repulse the male Z.

[10] The number of type of chromosomes, or the karyotype, for Z. tuberculatus has not changed much throughout evolution, which supports Muller's linkage conservation hypothesis and explains the scarcity of pericentric inversions and translocations.

Similarly, study of the retrosposon copia also revealed evidence supporting horizontal transfer between Z. tuberculatus and the melanogaster species subgroup.

A close relative of Z. tuberculatus, Z. indianus, is an invasive fly species and a pest to fig orchards.