Common Roller vs Glabrous Catsear

Ancylis badiana compared with Hypochaeris glabra

Key Differences

Common Roller is Least Concern while Glabrous Catsear is Critically Endangered.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Common Roller	Glabrous Catsear
Kingdom	Animalia (Animals)	Plantae (Plants)
Phylum	Arthropoda (Arthropods)	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)
Class	Insecta (Insects)	Magnoliopsida (Dicots)
Order	Lepidoptera (Butterflies & Moths)	Asterales (Daisies & Sunflowers)
Family	Tortricidae	Asteraceae (Daisy Family)
Genus	Ancylis	Hypochaeris
Species	Ancylis badiana	Hypochaeris glabra

Conservation Status

Common Roller

LC — Least Concern

Glabrous Catsear

CR — Critically Endangered

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Common Roller	Glabrous Catsear
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Common Roller

Habitat

Typically found in virtually all terrestrial and freshwater habitats.

Range

Distributed across Belgium, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden.

Glabrous Catsear

Habitat

Found across multiple habitat types including tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, montane grasslands and shrublands, and Mediterranean forests and woodlands, among 12 distinct biome types. Populations are also found in montane and highland environments at higher elevations.

Range

Widely distributed across Africa (South Africa), Asia (India, Japan, Taiwan), Europe (5 countries), North America (4 countries), Oceania and the Pacific (Australia), and South America (5 countries). Currently classified as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, this species faces significant conservation challenges across its range.

Common Roller

<em>Ancylis badiana</em>, the common roller, is a small moth in the family Tortricidae, order Lepidoptera. It is distributed across northwestern Europe, with documented records from Belgium, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, typically inhabiting woodland margins, hedgerows, scrubland, and areas where its larval host plants are abundant. The species is assessed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. Tortricid moths in the genus Ancylis are commonly known as "rollers" or "leafrollers" because their larvae typically roll or fold leaves of host plants to create sheltered feeding structures. <em>Ancylis badiana</em> larvae feed on the foliage of various herbaceous plants, particularly species in the pea family (Fabaceae). Adults are small moths with intricately patterned wings that provide camouflage against bark and plant material. Adult moths are primarily nocturnal and are attracted to light, while larvae are cryptic within their leaf shelters. Biological traits such as lifespan, body measurements, and detailed diet host range remain poorly documented beyond general family-level characteristics. The species typically completes one to two generations per year in temperate European climates, overwintering as pupae. It is considered a minor component of invertebrate biodiversity in European lowland habitats.