Barn Fern vs clouded magpie

Asplenium haughtonii compared with Abraxas sylvata

Key Differences

• Barn Fern is Critically Endangered while clouded magpie is Vulnerable.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Barn Fern	clouded magpie
Kingdom	Plantae (Plants)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Tracheophyta	Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class	Polypodiopsida (Polypodiopsida)	Insecta (Insects)
Order	Polypodiales (Polypodiales)	Lepidoptera (Butterflies & Moths)
Family	Aspleniaceae	Geometridae
Genus	Asplenium	Abraxas
Species	Asplenium haughtonii	Abraxas sylvata

Conservation Status

Barn Fern

CR — Critically Endangered

clouded magpie

VU — Vulnerable

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Barn Fern	clouded magpie
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Barn Fern

Habitat

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

clouded magpie

Habitat

Typically found in virtually all terrestrial and freshwater habitats.

Range

Distributed across Belgium, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. Currently classified as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, this species faces significant conservation challenges across its range.

Barn Fern

The Barn Fern (Asplenium haughtonii) is a species in the genus Asplenium. It is currently classified as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List. Typically found in moist, shaded forest floors and tropical canopies.

clouded magpie

The clouded magpie (Abraxas sylvata) is a geometrid moth in the family Geometridae found across temperate Europe, extending eastward through Russia to Japan. The adult wingspan measures approximately 32–42 mm, with white wings bearing a distinctive pattern of yellow-orange and dark grey to black spots and patches arranged in rows across the forewing and hindwing, creating a striking patterned appearance resembling the magpie coloring of the related magpie moth Abraxas grossulariata, but with a more yellowish, muted tone and less black — hence 'clouded.' Adults fly in one generation from June to July, resting on leaf surfaces and attending woodland flowers for nectar. The larvae feed on wych elm (Ulmus glabra) and occasionally other Ulmus species in mature deciduous woodland and woodland edges. The clouded magpie has become less common in parts of its European range due to the widespread loss of mature elms from Dutch elm disease, which devastated European elm populations from the 1970s onward. Conservation of this species requires the protection of surviving mature elm trees and management of regrowth elms in woodland ecosystems.