Cardinal Spider vs small tortoiseshell

Tegenaria parietina compared with Aglais urticae

Key Differences

• Cardinal Spider is Least Concern while small tortoiseshell is Near Threatened.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Cardinal Spider	small tortoiseshell
Kingdom same	Animalia (Animals)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum same	Arthropoda (Arthropods)	Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class	Arachnida (Arachnids)	Insecta (Insects)
Order	Araneae (Araneae)	Lepidoptera (Butterflies & Moths)
Family	Agelenidae	Nymphalidae (Brush-footed Butterflies)
Genus	Tegenaria	Aglais
Species	Tegenaria parietina	Aglais urticae

Evolutionary Relationship

Cardinal Spider and small tortoiseshell share a common ancestor at the Phylum level: Arthropoda. (Arthropods)

Conservation Status

Cardinal Spider

LC — Least Concern

small tortoiseshell

NT — Near Threatened

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Cardinal Spider	small tortoiseshell
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Cardinal Spider

Habitat

Typically found in terrestrial habitats from forests to deserts.

Range

Distributed across Austria, Belgium, Denmark, and Portugal.

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.

Cardinal Spider

The Cardinal Spider (Tegenaria parietina) is a species in the genus Tegenaria. It is currently classified as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List. Typically found in terrestrial habitats from forests to deserts.

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 4 countries:

🇦🇹 Austria 🇧🇪 Belgium 🇩🇰 Denmark 🇵🇹 Portugal