Common Blue Damselfly vs small tortoiseshell

Enallagma cyathigerum compared with Aglais urticae

Key Differences

• Common Blue Damselfly is Least Concern while small tortoiseshell is Near Threatened.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Common Blue Damselfly	small tortoiseshell
Kingdom same	Animalia (Animals)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum same	Arthropoda (Arthropods)	Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class same	Insecta (Insects)	Insecta (Insects)
Order	Odonata (Odonata)	Lepidoptera (Butterflies & Moths)
Family	Coenagrionidae	Nymphalidae (Brush-footed Butterflies)
Genus	Enallagma	Aglais
Species	Enallagma cyathigerum	Aglais urticae

Evolutionary Relationship

Common Blue Damselfly and small tortoiseshell share a common ancestor at the Class level: Insecta. (Insects)

Conservation Status

Common Blue Damselfly

LC — Least Concern

small tortoiseshell

NT — Near Threatened

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Common Blue Damselfly	small tortoiseshell
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Common Blue Damselfly

Habitat

Typically found in virtually all terrestrial and freshwater habitats.

Range

Distributed across Belgium, Denmark, Luxembourg, 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.

Common Blue Damselfly

Common Blue Damselfly (Enallagma cyathigerum) is classified as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List. Widespread and abundant across its range, with stable populations and no immediate conservation concerns.

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 5 countries:

🇧🇪 Belgium 🇩🇰 Denmark 🇱🇺 Luxembourg 🇳🇴 Norway 🇸🇪 Sweden