As the body transforms into a butterfly, it neither eats nor drinks. A beautiful, flying adult emerges. There is no growth during this stage, but the butterfly will sip nectar. This adult will continue the cycle by reproducing. Females produce two broods in the north, three in the south.
Wings have distinctive yellow and black stripes.
The caterpillar's first meal is its own eggshell. This proboscis uncoils to sip food, and coils up again into a spiral when not in use. Tiger Swallowtails drink sweet flower nectar, especially nectar from the pink flowers of the shrub abelia. The caterpillar is camouflaged to look like bird droppings when it is very young. Later, it develops distinctive eyespots, which make it look like a snake, scaring off some predators.