Case-making clothes moth vs small tortoiseshell

Tinea pellionella compared with Aglais urticae

Key Differences

• Case-making clothes moth is Least Concern while small tortoiseshell is Near Threatened.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Case-making clothes moth	small tortoiseshell
Kingdom same	Animalia (Animals)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum same	Arthropoda (Arthropods)	Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class same	Insecta (Insects)	Insecta (Insects)
Order same	Lepidoptera (Butterflies & Moths)	Lepidoptera (Butterflies & Moths)
Family	Tineidae	Nymphalidae (Brush-footed Butterflies)
Genus	Tinea	Aglais
Species	Tinea pellionella	Aglais urticae

Evolutionary Relationship

Case-making clothes moth and small tortoiseshell share a common ancestor at the Order level: Lepidoptera. (Butterflies & Moths)

Conservation Status

Case-making clothes moth

LC — Least Concern

small tortoiseshell

NT — Near Threatened

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Case-making clothes moth	small tortoiseshell
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Case-making clothes moth

Habitat

Inhabits deserts and xeric shrublands within the Afrotropic biogeographic realm.

Range

Widely distributed across Africa (South Africa), Asia (Taiwan, Yemen), Europe (9 countries), and North America (Canada, 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.

Case-making clothes moth

The Case-making Clothes Moth (Tinea pellionella) is a species in the genus Tinea. It is currently classified as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. Inhabits deserts and xeric shrublands within the Afrotropic biogeographic realm.

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 9 countries:

🇧🇪 Belgium 🇩🇰 Denmark 🇪🇪 Estonia 🇫🇷 France 🇮🇪 Ireland 🇳🇱 Netherlands 🇳🇴 Norway 🇸🇪 Sweden 🇬🇧 United Kingdom