Common Pipistrelle vs Painted Lady

Pipistrellus pipistrellus compared with Vanessa cardui

Key Differences

• Common Pipistrelle is Vulnerable while Painted Lady is Least Concern.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Common Pipistrelle	Painted Lady
Kingdom same	Animalia (Animals)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Chordata (Chordates)	Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class	Mammalia (Mammals)	Insecta (Insects)
Order	Chiroptera (Bats)	Lepidoptera (Butterflies & Moths)
Family	Vespertilionidae	Nymphalidae (Brush-footed Butterflies)
Genus	Pipistrellus	Vanessa
Species	Pipistrellus pipistrellus	Vanessa cardui

Evolutionary Relationship

Common Pipistrelle and Painted Lady share a common ancestor at the Kingdom level: Animalia. (Animals)

Conservation Status

Common Pipistrelle

VU — Vulnerable

Painted Lady

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Common Pipistrelle	Painted Lady
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Common Pipistrelle

Habitat

Typically found in diverse terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.

Range

Found across Europe (7 countries). Currently classified as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, this species faces significant conservation challenges across its range.

Painted Lady

Habitat

Typically found in virtually all terrestrial and freshwater habitats.

Range

Widely distributed across Africa (South Africa), Asia (Cyprus, Taiwan), Europe (41 countries), and North America (Canada, United States).

Common Pipistrelle

<em>Pipistrellus pipistrellus</em>, the common pipistrelle, is a small bat in the family Vespertilionidae and one of the most abundant and widespread bat species in Europe. It is typically one of the first bats to emerge at dusk, flying with rapid, jerky wingbeats as it pursues small flying insects over gardens, woodland edges, water bodies, and urban areas. The species roosts in crevices in buildings, bat boxes, and tree holes, often forming large maternity colonies in summer. <em>Pipistrellus pipistrellus</em> echolocates at a characteristic frequency of around 45 kHz, which allows it to be identified using bat detectors. It is distributed across Europe, with confirmed records from Belgium, Denmark, Luxembourg, Norway, and Portugal, among many other countries. The species is assessed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, reflecting population declines driven by loss of foraging habitat, reduction in insect prey biomass, disturbance of roost sites, and pesticide use. Biological traits such as average lifespan, body size, weight, and detailed dietary composition across its range remain poorly documented in the scientific literature, though the species is known to consume large numbers of small moths, midges, and other aerial insects each night.

Painted Lady

Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui) 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.

Shared Countries

Both species can be found in 7 countries:

🇧🇪 Belgium 🇩🇰 Denmark 🇱🇺 Luxembourg 🇳🇴 Norway 🇵🇹 Portugal 🇸🇪 Sweden 🇺🇦 Ukraine