Cuckoo Flower vs small tortoiseshell

Cardamine pratensis compared with Aglais urticae

Key Differences

• Cuckoo Flower is Least Concern while small tortoiseshell is Near Threatened.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Cuckoo Flower	small tortoiseshell
Kingdom	Plantae (Plants)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)	Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class	Magnoliopsida (Dicots)	Insecta (Insects)
Order	Brassicales (Brassicales)	Lepidoptera (Butterflies & Moths)
Family	Brassicaceae	Nymphalidae (Brush-footed Butterflies)
Genus	Cardamine	Aglais
Species	Cardamine pratensis	Aglais urticae

Conservation Status

Cuckoo Flower

LC — Least Concern

small tortoiseshell

NT — Near Threatened

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Cuckoo Flower	small tortoiseshell
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Cuckoo Flower

Habitat

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

Range

Widely distributed across Asia (Japan), Europe (8 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.

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 8 countries:

🇧🇪 Belgium 🇩🇰 Denmark 🇫🇮 Finland 🇫🇷 France 🇮🇸 Iceland 🇳🇴 Norway 🇵🇹 Portugal 🇸🇪 Sweden