Blueish Veilwort vs small tortoiseshell

Metzgeria violacea compared with Aglais urticae

Key Differences

• Blueish Veilwort is Least Concern while small tortoiseshell is Near Threatened.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Blueish Veilwort	small tortoiseshell
Kingdom	Plantae (Plants)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Marchantiophyta (liverwort)	Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class	Jungermanniopsida (Jungermanniopsida)	Insecta (Insects)
Order	Metzgeriales (Metzgeriales)	Lepidoptera (Butterflies & Moths)
Family	Metzgeriaceae	Nymphalidae (Brush-footed Butterflies)
Genus	Metzgeria	Aglais
Species	Metzgeria violacea	Aglais urticae

Conservation Status

Blueish Veilwort

LC — Least Concern

small tortoiseshell

NT — Near Threatened

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Blueish Veilwort	small tortoiseshell
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Blueish Veilwort

Habitat

Native to Europe and South America, inhabiting ecosystems characteristic of the region.

Range

Distributed across Belgium, Colombia, Norway, 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.

Blueish Veilwort

The Blueish Veilwort (Metzgeria violacea) is a species in the genus Metzgeria. It is currently classified as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. Native to Europe and South America, inhabiting ecosystems characteristic of the region.

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:

🇧🇪 Belgium 🇳🇴 Norway 🇸🇪 Sweden