Upper surface of male forewing with narrow black stripes. Each hindwing has 2 tails. Males patrol stream courses or city streets for receptive females. Eggs are laid singly on leaves of host plant.
Caterpillars eat leaves and rest on silken mats in shelters of curled leaves.
One flight May to mid-August in North, most of year in South. Nectar from thistles, milkweeds, California buckeye, lilac, and many others. Foothill slopes and canyons, moist valleys, streamsides, woodlands, parks, roadsides, suburbs, and cities. Western North America south from British Columbia, east to central Nebraska and central Texas, south through Mexico. G5 - Demonstrably secure globally, though it may be quite rare in parts of its range, especially at the periphery.