Bitter Webcap vs small tortoiseshell

Cortinarius infractus compared with Aglais urticae

Key Differences

• Bitter Webcap is Least Concern while small tortoiseshell is Near Threatened.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Bitter Webcap	small tortoiseshell
Kingdom	Fungi (Fungi)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Basidiomycota (Club Fungi)	Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class	Agaricomycetes (Mushrooms)	Insecta (Insects)
Order	Agaricales (Gilled Mushrooms)	Lepidoptera (Butterflies & Moths)
Family	Cortinariaceae	Nymphalidae (Brush-footed Butterflies)
Genus	Cortinarius	Aglais
Species	Cortinarius infractus	Aglais urticae

Conservation Status

Bitter Webcap

LC — Least Concern

small tortoiseshell

NT — Near Threatened

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Bitter Webcap	small tortoiseshell
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Bitter Webcap

Habitat

Typically found in forest floors, decomposing wood, and soil ecosystems.

Range

Distributed across Denmark 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.

Bitter Webcap

The Bitter Webcap (Cortinarius infractus) is a species in the genus Cortinarius. It is currently classified as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. Typically found in forest floors, decomposing wood, and soil ecosystems.

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 2 countries:

🇩🇰 Denmark 🇸🇪 Sweden