Arctic Blue vs Painted Lady

Agriades aquilo compared with Vanessa cardui

Key Differences

• Arctic Blue is Near Threatened while Painted Lady is Least Concern.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Arctic Blue	Painted Lady
Kingdom same	Animalia (Animals)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum same	Arthropoda (Arthropods)	Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class same	Insecta (Insects)	Insecta (Insects)
Order same	Lepidoptera (Butterflies & Moths)	Lepidoptera (Butterflies & Moths)
Family	Lycaenidae	Nymphalidae (Brush-footed Butterflies)
Genus	Agriades	Vanessa
Species	Agriades aquilo	Vanessa cardui

Evolutionary Relationship

Arctic Blue and Painted Lady share a common ancestor at the Order level: Lepidoptera. (Butterflies & Moths)

Conservation Status

Arctic Blue

NT — Near Threatened

Painted Lady

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Arctic Blue	Painted Lady
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Arctic Blue

Habitat

Typically found in virtually all terrestrial and freshwater habitats.

Range

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

Painted Lady

Habitat

Typically found in virtually all terrestrial and freshwater habitats.

Range

Widely distributed across Africa (South Africa), Asia (Cyprus, Taiwan), Europe (41 countries), and North America (Canada, United States).

Arctic Blue

The Arctic Blue (Agriades aquilo) is a species in the genus Agriades. It is currently classified as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List. Typically found in virtually all terrestrial and freshwater habitats.

Painted Lady

Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui) is classified as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List. Widespread and abundant across its range, with stable populations and no immediate conservation concerns.

Shared Countries

Both species can be found in 4 countries:

🇫🇮 Finland 🇳🇴 Norway 🇷🇺 Russia 🇸🇪 Sweden