The eastern tiger swallowtail is a brightly colored butterfly with a wingspan of 3-3.5 inches. The females, however, are slightly larger than their male counterparts. They are named after the unique coloration of their wings, which are yellow and feature four black stripes on the forewings, resembling the stripes of a tiger.

The male eastern tiger swallowtails are yellow while females may be yellow or almost completely black. Both males and females feature blue and red spots on their hindwings. A broken bar on their forewings set this species apart from other swallowtails.

The eastern tiger swallowtail can be found in North America. As its name suggests, this butterfly occupies the Eastern part of the United States and can be found from Florida to Texas up to South Dakota to Vermont. 

The eastern swallowtail remains one of the most common species of swallowtail in the eastern United States and can be found in a variety of habitats. These include rivers, fields, woodlands, gardens, creeks, and more.

Eastern tiger swallowtails eat the nectar of flowers from plants like lilacs, Japanese honeysuckle, milkweed, and more. These butterflies may also be seen crowded around a spot of mud. This is called “puddling”. While the butterflies get the carbohydrates they need to fly from nectar, they get proteins, sodium, and amino acids from mud.

Eastern tiger swallowtails can reproduce multiple times each year. After mating, the female butterflies will lay small green eggs on plants. These eggs will then hatch within 4-10 days. The newly hatched caterpillars emerge as brown and white, resembling bird droppings as camouflage. As the young caterpillars grow, they will turn into a bright green color and will develop black and orange false eyespots. When threatened, the caterpillars can tuck its head under its body and raise a false head. This formation allows the caterpillar to resemble a snake.

The eastern tiger swallowtail has many natural enemies. These include, but are not limited to, hawks, woodpeckers, owls, opossums, squirrels, and raccoons. A poisonous swallowtail species known as the pipevine swallowtail shares the same region and has the same coloration as a black female eastern tiger swallowtail. Predators want to avoid this poisonous species, which works in the dark-colored female eastern tiger swallowtail’s favor. If injured, the butterfly can still fly while missing a tail wing.