Geographic Range
Eurytides marcellus
range throughout the eastern United States, although are most abundant in the southeast.
Habitat
The zebra swallowtail prefers corridors of wooded land alongside bodies of water such
as riversides, lakeshores, marshes and open moist woods.
- Habitat Regions
- temperate
- Terrestrial Biomes
- forest
- Other Habitat Features
- riparian
Physical Description
The zebra swallowtail butterfly has a wing span of 5-9 cm. It has long, triangular wings with swordlike tails. The color and size varies between spring and summer butterflies. The early spring zebra swallowtail is smaller with pale greenish-white wings which are crossed by black stripes and bands. They also have shorter tails. The summer zebra swallowtail is larger with light blue-green wings, which are crossed by black stripes and bands, and have longer tails. The hindwings of both the spring and summer zebra swallowtail have two deep blue spots at the base and a red spot closer to the body.
Caterpillars are generally hairless. They have a forked gland called the osmeterium
that can protrude from the back of the head if the butterfly is alarmed. This releases
a bad smell that is used as defense mechanism. There are two color morphologies of
caterpillars. The first is green with yellow and black bands, and the other is dark
brown with orange and white bands.
- Other Physical Features
- ectothermic
- heterothermic
- bilateral symmetry
Development
In the life cycle of the butterfly, it takes about one month for the zebra swallowtail
to mature from an egg to an adult. The chrysalis, or pupa, is attached to a stem
or leaf by the tail and by a girdle of silk around the thorax. It hangs head upward
in this position.
- Development - Life Cycle
- metamorphosis
Reproduction
Males usually patrol places near host plants searching for females. Small aggregations
of patrolling males often form close to mud puddles or moist stream banks.
Female zebra swallowtails lay their eggs singly on the underside of pawpaw leaves.
- Key Reproductive Features
- fertilization
- oviparous
Lifespan/Longevity
An adult
Eurytides marcellus
butterfly can live up to 6 months in its natural environment.
Behavior
The zebra swallowtail flies near the ground using shallow wingbeats. Its flight has
been described as bat-like and erratic.
- Key Behaviors
- flies
- diurnal
Food Habits
The zebra swallowtail rarely strays away from the habitats where various species of
pawpaw are found. The common food plants for the larvae are the pawpaw and dwarf
pawpaw. Some larvae will eat other caterpillars found on the same plant. The adult
zebra swallowtail will eat nectar from a variety of flowers. Adults generally eat
from taller flowers, because they have a long, flexible "tongue" called a proboscis
and can feed from longer, tubed flowers.
- Primary Diet
- herbivore
- Animal Foods
- insects
- Plant Foods
- leaves
- wood, bark, or stems
- nectar
Economic Importance for Humans: Positive
Economic benefits from this species have yet to be discovered.
Economic Importance for Humans: Negative
Currently it does not adversely affect humans.
Conservation Status
This butterfly needs no special protective status.
Other Comments
The zebra swallowtail was first grouped under the genus name
Papilio
. Then it was later renamed
Graphium marcellus
. Today it is known by its Latin name
Eurytides marcellus
. Zebra swallowtails are called swallowtails because their "tails" are long on their
hindwings. These look similar to the long, pointed tails on swallows
Hirundinidae
.
.
Additional Links
Contributors
Sara Diamond (editor), Animal Diversity Web.
Matthew Wund (editor), University of Michigan-Ann Arbor.
Leticia Davila (author), Southwestern University, Stephanie Fabritius (editor), Southwestern University.
- Nearctic
-
living in the Nearctic biogeographic province, the northern part of the New World. This includes Greenland, the Canadian Arctic islands, and all of the North American as far south as the highlands of central Mexico.
- native range
-
the area in which the animal is naturally found, the region in which it is endemic.
- temperate
-
that region of the Earth between 23.5 degrees North and 60 degrees North (between the Tropic of Cancer and the Arctic Circle) and between 23.5 degrees South and 60 degrees South (between the Tropic of Capricorn and the Antarctic Circle).
- forest
-
forest biomes are dominated by trees, otherwise forest biomes can vary widely in amount of precipitation and seasonality.
- riparian
-
Referring to something living or located adjacent to a waterbody (usually, but not always, a river or stream).
- ectothermic
-
animals which must use heat acquired from the environment and behavioral adaptations to regulate body temperature
- heterothermic
-
having a body temperature that fluctuates with that of the immediate environment; having no mechanism or a poorly developed mechanism for regulating internal body temperature.
- bilateral symmetry
-
having body symmetry such that the animal can be divided in one plane into two mirror-image halves. Animals with bilateral symmetry have dorsal and ventral sides, as well as anterior and posterior ends. Synapomorphy of the Bilateria.
- metamorphosis
-
A large change in the shape or structure of an animal that happens as the animal grows. In insects, "incomplete metamorphosis" is when young animals are similar to adults and change gradually into the adult form, and "complete metamorphosis" is when there is a profound change between larval and adult forms. Butterflies have complete metamorphosis, grasshoppers have incomplete metamorphosis.
- fertilization
-
union of egg and spermatozoan
- internal fertilization
-
fertilization takes place within the female's body
- oviparous
-
reproduction in which eggs are released by the female; development of offspring occurs outside the mother's body.
- diurnal
-
- active during the day, 2. lasting for one day.
- herbivore
-
An animal that eats mainly plants or parts of plants.
- folivore
-
an animal that mainly eats leaves.
- nectarivore
-
an animal that mainly eats nectar from flowers
References
Col, J. 1999. "Enchanted Learning" (On-line). Accessed February 18, 2001 at http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/butterfly/species/Zebrasw.shtml .
Holland, W. 1910. The Butterfly Book . Garden City, New York: Doubleday, Page and Company.
Parenti, U. 1972. Butterflies and Moths . London: Orbis Publishing Limited.
Parenti, U. 1977. The World of Butterflies and Moths . New York, New York: G. P. Putman's Sons.
Pyle, R. 1981. The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Butterflies . New York, New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc..
Stokes, D., L. Stokes, E. Williams. 1991. The Butterfly Book . New York, New York: Little, Brown and Company.
Tveten, J., G. Tveten. 1996. Butterflies of Houston and Southeast Texas . Austin, Texas: University of Texas Press.