Bitter Wintercress vs small tortoiseshell

Barbarea vulgaris compared with Aglais urticae

Key Differences

• Bitter Wintercress is Not Evaluated while small tortoiseshell is Near Threatened.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Bitter Wintercress	small tortoiseshell
Kingdom	Plantae (Plants)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)	Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class	Magnoliopsida (Dicots)	Insecta (Insects)
Order	Brassicales (Brassicales)	Lepidoptera (Butterflies & Moths)
Family	Brassicaceae	Nymphalidae (Brush-footed Butterflies)
Genus	Barbarea	Aglais
Species	Barbarea vulgaris	Aglais urticae

Conservation Status

Bitter Wintercress

NE — Not Evaluated

small tortoiseshell

NT — Near Threatened

Physical Characteristics

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

Habitat & Geographic Range

Bitter Wintercress

Habitat

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

Range

Widely distributed across Asia (Japan), Europe (5 countries), and North America (Canada, Mexico, 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.

Bitter Wintercress

The Bitter Wintercress (Barbarea vulgaris) is a species in the genus Barbarea. 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 5 countries:

🇧🇪 Belgium 🇫🇷 France 🇮🇸 Iceland 🇳🇴 Norway 🇸🇪 Sweden