Black Thistle vs small tortoiseshell

Cirsium vulgare compared with Aglais urticae

Key Differences

• Black Thistle is Least Concern while small tortoiseshell is Near Threatened.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Black Thistle	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	Cirsium	Aglais
Species	Cirsium vulgare	Aglais urticae

Conservation Status

Black Thistle

LC — Least Concern

small tortoiseshell

NT — Near Threatened

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Black Thistle	small tortoiseshell
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Black Thistle

Habitat

Found across multiple habitat types including tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, tropical and subtropical grasslands and savannas, and montane grasslands and shrublands, among 5 distinct biome types spanning the Afrotropic and Neotropic realms. Populations are also found in montane and highland environments at higher elevations.

Range

Widely distributed across Africa (8 countries), Asia (Israel, Japan, Taiwan), Europe (12 countries), North America (5 countries), Oceania and the Pacific (Australia, New Zealand), and South America (7 countries).

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.

Black Thistle

The Black Thistle (Cirsium vulgare) is a species in the genus Cirsium. It is currently classified as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. Found across multiple habitat types including tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, tropical and subtropical grasslands and savannas, and montane grasslands and shrublands, among 5 distinct biome types spanning the Afrotropic an, found across Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, and more.

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 12 countries:

🇧🇪 Belgium 🇧🇬 Bulgaria 🇨🇿 Czech Republic 🇩🇰 Denmark 🇫🇮 Finland 🇫🇷 France 🇳🇴 Norway 🇵🇱 Poland 🇵🇹 Portugal 🇸🇰 Slovakia 🇪🇸 Spain 🇸🇪 Sweden