Dog's Mercury Rust vs small tortoiseshell

Melampsora populnea compared with Aglais urticae

Key Differences

• Dog's Mercury Rust is Not Evaluated while small tortoiseshell is Near Threatened.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Dog's Mercury Rust	small tortoiseshell
Kingdom	Fungi (Fungi)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Basidiomycota (Club Fungi)	Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class	Pucciniomycetes (Pucciniomycetes)	Insecta (Insects)
Order	Pucciniales (Pucciniales)	Lepidoptera (Butterflies & Moths)
Family	Melampsoraceae	Nymphalidae (Brush-footed Butterflies)
Genus	Melampsora	Aglais
Species	Melampsora populnea	Aglais urticae

Conservation Status

Dog's Mercury Rust

NE — Not Evaluated

small tortoiseshell

NT — Near Threatened

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Dog's Mercury Rust	small tortoiseshell
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Dog's Mercury Rust

Habitat

Native to Europe and South America, inhabiting ecosystems characteristic of the region.

Range

Found across Europe (6 countries) and South America (Brazil).

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 6 countries:

🇧🇪 Belgium 🇩🇰 Denmark 🇳🇴 Norway 🇵🇹 Portugal 🇸🇮 Slovenia 🇸🇪 Sweden