It feeds on pipe vines which contain poisons that are retained by the caterpillar and passed on to the adults making them distasteful to birds. Adult Pipe Vine Swallowtails have long black fore wings and metallic blue hindwings with short tails. The tails have a line of white spots but no red spot at the corner. The underside of each hindwing has a row of seven orange spots arranged in a semi-circle. They can be found in back yards and along roadsides.
Adults feed on the nectar of many flowers, especially thistles.
Queen The catepillar of the Queen is striped in dark brown and white with yellow spots and three pairs of filaments. It feeds on poisonous milkweeds, and the poisons are retained by the adults. The adult Queen is red-brown with fine black veins and wide black margins on the wings. White spots dot the long fore wing. The undersides are more brown with heavier veins.