Arctic Butterbur vs small tortoiseshell

Petasites frigidus compared with Aglais urticae

Key Differences

• Arctic Butterbur is Least Concern while small tortoiseshell is Near Threatened.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Arctic Butterbur	small tortoiseshell
Kingdom	Plantae (Plants)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)	Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class	Magnoliopsida (Dicots)	Insecta (Insects)
Order	Asterales (Daisies & Sunflowers)	Lepidoptera (Butterflies & Moths)
Family	Asteraceae (Daisy Family)	Nymphalidae (Brush-footed Butterflies)
Genus	Petasites	Aglais
Species	Petasites frigidus	Aglais urticae

Conservation Status

Arctic Butterbur

LC — Least Concern

small tortoiseshell

NT — Near Threatened

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Arctic Butterbur	small tortoiseshell
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Arctic Butterbur

Habitat

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

Range

Distributed across Finland, 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.

Arctic Butterbur

The Arctic Butterbur (Petasites frigidus) is a species in the genus Petasites. It is currently classified as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. Typically found in diverse terrestrial habitats from tropical forests to temperate regions.

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:

🇫🇮 Finland 🇳🇴 Norway 🇸🇪 Sweden