Alpine Water-moss vs small tortoiseshell

Fontinalis squamosa compared with Aglais urticae

Key Differences

• Alpine Water-moss is Least Concern while small tortoiseshell is Near Threatened.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Alpine Water-moss	small tortoiseshell
Kingdom	Plantae (Plants)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Bryophyta	Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class	Bryopsida (Bryopsida)	Insecta (Insects)
Order	Hypnales (Hypnales)	Lepidoptera (Butterflies & Moths)
Family	Fontinalaceae	Nymphalidae (Brush-footed Butterflies)
Genus	Fontinalis	Aglais
Species	Fontinalis squamosa	Aglais urticae

Conservation Status

Alpine Water-moss

LC — Least Concern

small tortoiseshell

NT — Near Threatened

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Alpine Water-moss	small tortoiseshell
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Alpine Water-moss

Habitat

Native to Europe, inhabiting ecosystems characteristic of the region.

Range

Distributed across Luxembourg, 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 Water-moss

The Alpine Water-moss (Fontinalis squamosa) is a species in the genus Fontinalis. It is currently classified as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. Native to Europe, inhabiting ecosystems characteristic of the region. Distributed across Luxembourg, 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 3 countries:

🇱🇺 Luxembourg 🇳🇴 Norway 🇸🇪 Sweden