deadly nightshade vs small tortoiseshell

Atropa belladonna compared with Aglais urticae

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	deadly nightshade	small tortoiseshell
Kingdom	Plantae (Plants)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)	Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class	Magnoliopsida (Dicots)	Insecta (Insects)
Order	Solanales (Solanales)	Lepidoptera (Butterflies & Moths)
Family	Solanaceae	Nymphalidae (Brush-footed Butterflies)
Genus	Atropa	Aglais
Species	Atropa belladonna	Aglais urticae

Conservation Status

deadly nightshade

NT — Near Threatened

small tortoiseshell

NT — Near Threatened

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	deadly nightshade	small tortoiseshell
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

deadly nightshade

Habitat

Inhabits tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests and deserts and xeric shrublands within the Afrotropic biogeographic realm.

Range

Widely distributed across Africa (Seychelles), Europe (9 countries), and North America (Canada, United States). Listed as Near Threatened, this species requires ongoing monitoring to prevent population decline.

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 9 countries:

🇧🇪 Belgium 🇩🇰 Denmark 🇪🇪 Estonia 🇫🇮 Finland 🇮🇪 Ireland 🇱🇹 Lithuania 🇳🇴 Norway 🇵🇹 Portugal 🇸🇪 Sweden