alpine bittercress vs small tortoiseshell

Cardamine bellidifolia compared with Aglais urticae

Key Differences

• alpine bittercress is Least Concern while small tortoiseshell is Near Threatened.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	alpine bittercress	small tortoiseshell
Kingdom	Plantae (Plants)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)	Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class	Magnoliopsida (Dicots)	Insecta (Insects)
Order	Brassicales (Brassicales)	Lepidoptera (Butterflies & Moths)
Family	Brassicaceae	Nymphalidae (Brush-footed Butterflies)
Genus	Cardamine	Aglais
Species	Cardamine bellidifolia	Aglais urticae

Conservation Status

alpine bittercress

LC — Least Concern

small tortoiseshell

NT — Near Threatened

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	alpine bittercress	small tortoiseshell
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

alpine bittercress

Habitat

Typically found in diverse terrestrial habitats from tropical forests to temperate regions.

Range

Distributed across Canada, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden.

small tortoiseshell

Habitat

Typically found in virtually all terrestrial and freshwater habitats.

Range

Found across Europe (41 countries). Listed as Near Threatened, this species requires ongoing monitoring to prevent population decline.

alpine bittercress

The Alpine bittercress (Cardamine bellidifolia) is a species in the genus Cardamine. It is currently classified as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. Typically found in diverse terrestrial habitats from tropical forests to temperate regions. Distributed across Canada, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden.

small tortoiseshell

small tortoiseshell (Aglais urticae) is classified as Near Threatened (NT) on the IUCN Red List. Close to qualifying as threatened, with populations that may become vulnerable without conservation action.

Shared Countries

Both species can be found in 4 countries:

🇫🇮 Finland 🇮🇸 Iceland 🇳🇴 Norway 🇸🇪 Sweden