Alpine Bladder-fern vs small tortoiseshell

Cystopteris alpina compared with Aglais urticae

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Alpine Bladder-fern	small tortoiseshell
Kingdom	Plantae (Plants)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Tracheophyta	Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class	Polypodiopsida (Polypodiopsida)	Insecta (Insects)
Order	Polypodiales (Polypodiales)	Lepidoptera (Butterflies & Moths)
Family	Cystopteridaceae	Nymphalidae (Brush-footed Butterflies)
Genus	Cystopteris	Aglais
Species	Cystopteris alpina	Aglais urticae

Conservation Status

Alpine Bladder-fern

NT — Near Threatened

small tortoiseshell

NT — Near Threatened

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Alpine Bladder-fern	small tortoiseshell
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Alpine Bladder-fern

Habitat

Typically found in moist, shaded forest floors and tropical canopies.

Range

Distributed across Norway and Sweden. Listed as Near Threatened, this species requires ongoing monitoring to prevent population decline.

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 Bladder-fern

The Alpine Bladder-fern (Cystopteris alpina) is a species in the genus Cystopteris. It is currently classified as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List. Typically found in moist, shaded forest floors and tropical canopies. Distributed across Norway and Sweden. Listed as Near Threatened, this species requires ongoing monitoring to prevent population decline.

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 2 countries:

🇳🇴 Norway 🇸🇪 Sweden