A large, black-and-white-striped butterfly flying in Alabama is a Zebra Swallowtail.Slender striped wings are adapted for both maneuverability and camouflage, allowing Zebra Swallowtails to flutter and swoop through woodland understories. Damman H. 1986. The Zebra Swallowtail butterfly is a common butterfly with distinctive black and white markings. Animal Behaviour 36: 563-573. Caterpillar: The larva (caterpillar) hatches from an egg and eats leaves almost constantly.It is green with one black stripe and many yellow stripes (there is also a darker form of this caterpillar which is black with yellow and white stripes). Edwards WH. It starts life as a tiny egg that hatches into a yellow-green caterpillar with black and yellow stripes. Damman H, Feeny P. 1988. The ends of the wings have long, thin tails. Here are some interesting facts about zebra swallowtail butterflies that belong to the family Papilionidae, which includes some of … Summary 5 The Zebra Swallowtail (Protographium marcellus, formerly listed under genera Eurytides, Iphiclides, Graphium and Papilio by some authorities) is a swallowtail butterfly native to the eastern United States and southeast Canada. Egg: A butterfly starts its life as an egg.The female Zebra Swallowtail lays its spherical, pale green eggs singly on the Pawpaw (Asimina triloba). Ecological Entomology 11: 261-265. The osmeterial glands of the swallowtail butterfly Eurytides marcellus as a defense against natural enemies. Visually, their telltale stripes make them difficult to follow as they glide through dappled sunlight and shadows. Zebra swallowtails have long, triangular wings with black, zebra-like stripes on a whitish background. Mechanisms and consequences of selective oviposition by the zebra swallowtail butterfly. Above, a zebra swallowtail butterfly is seen at Sky Meadows State Park in Fauquier County, Va., on April 19, 2015. Its distinctive wing shape and long tails make it easy to identify, and its black and white-striped pattern is reminiscent of a zebra. The Zebra Swallowtail has a wingspan of about 3.75-4.5 inches (9.5-11.5 cm). All You Wanted to Know About the Zebra Swallowtail Butterfly. The zebra swallowtail has seasonal dimorphism, which results in the organism being smaller, a lighter color, and having shorter tails in the spring, than in the summer (Hall and Butler 1998). These butterflies have stripes like zebras, and tailed wings, like swallows. 1862-1897. This caterpillar gives off a bad smell that keeps some predators (like wasps) away. However, this winged beauty is not the first stage of a butterfly’s life cycle.