Alpine Chickweed vs small tortoiseshell

Cerastium alpinum compared with Aglais urticae

Key Differences

• Alpine Chickweed is Least Concern while small tortoiseshell is Near Threatened.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Alpine Chickweed	small tortoiseshell
Kingdom	Plantae (Plants)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)	Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class	Magnoliopsida (Dicots)	Insecta (Insects)
Order	Caryophyllales (Caryophyllales)	Lepidoptera (Butterflies & Moths)
Family	Caryophyllaceae	Nymphalidae (Brush-footed Butterflies)
Genus	Cerastium	Aglais
Species	Cerastium alpinum	Aglais urticae

Conservation Status

Alpine Chickweed

LC — Least Concern

small tortoiseshell

NT — Near Threatened

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Alpine Chickweed	small tortoiseshell
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Alpine Chickweed

Habitat

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

Range

Distributed across Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and United States.

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 Chickweed

The Alpine Chickweed (Cerastium alpinum) is a species in the genus Cerastium. 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 Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and United States.

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 3 countries:

🇩🇰 Denmark 🇳🇴 Norway 🇸🇪 Sweden