Eggs are variable from yellow to orange or yellow-brown. Florida larvae are typically dark brown with black-tipped orange tubercles and have an orange collar. Pupae may be light brown with orange markings or light green with yellow markings. The polydamas swallowtail favors open woods or disturbed areas. There are many flights all year in southern Florida and southern Texas, but they are rare during the winter.
Young larvae are gregarious, but become solitary as they mature.
Larvae feed on leaves and flowers of the host. Aristolochia pentandra Jacq. However, a variety of exotic ornamental pipevines are cultured in the United States, and polydamas larvae commonly use them for hosts often becoming pests by defoliating the vines and eating the flowers. Two of the most common of these exotic species are dutchman's pipe, A. macrophylla Lam. Larvae have also been recorded from Virginia snakeroot, A. serpentaria L., a native species that ranges from central Florida northward.