Chinese gall vs small tortoiseshell

Rhus chinensis compared with Aglais urticae

Key Differences

• Chinese gall is Least Concern while small tortoiseshell is Near Threatened.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Chinese gall	small tortoiseshell
Kingdom	Plantae (Plants)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)	Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class	Magnoliopsida (Dicots)	Insecta (Insects)
Order	Sapindales (Sapindales)	Lepidoptera (Butterflies & Moths)
Family	Anacardiaceae	Nymphalidae (Brush-footed Butterflies)
Genus	Rhus	Aglais
Species	Rhus chinensis	Aglais urticae

Conservation Status

Chinese gall

LC — Least Concern

small tortoiseshell

NT — Near Threatened

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Chinese gall	small tortoiseshell
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Chinese gall

Habitat

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

Range

Distributed across Italy and Taiwan.

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.

Chinese gall

The Chinese Gall (Rhus chinensis) is a species in the genus Rhus. It is currently classified as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. Distributed across Italy and Taiwan.

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 1 countries:

🇮🇹 Italy