Eastern Pale Clouded Yellow vs small tortoiseshell

Colias erate compared with Aglais urticae

Key Differences

• Eastern Pale Clouded Yellow is Least Concern while small tortoiseshell is Near Threatened.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Eastern Pale Clouded Yellow	small tortoiseshell
Kingdom same	Animalia (Animals)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum same	Arthropoda (Arthropods)	Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class same	Insecta (Insects)	Insecta (Insects)
Order same	Lepidoptera (Butterflies & Moths)	Lepidoptera (Butterflies & Moths)
Family	Pieridae	Nymphalidae (Brush-footed Butterflies)
Genus	Colias	Aglais
Species	Colias erate	Aglais urticae

Evolutionary Relationship

Eastern Pale Clouded Yellow and small tortoiseshell share a common ancestor at the Order level: Lepidoptera. (Butterflies & Moths)

Conservation Status

Eastern Pale Clouded Yellow

LC — Least Concern

small tortoiseshell

NT — Near Threatened

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Eastern Pale Clouded Yellow	small tortoiseshell
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Eastern Pale Clouded Yellow

Habitat

Typically found in virtually all terrestrial and freshwater habitats.

Range

Found across Europe (16 countries).

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 16 countries:

🇦🇹 Austria 🇧🇬 Bulgaria 🇭🇷 Croatia 🇨🇿 Czech Republic 🇩🇪 Germany 🇬🇷 Greece 🇭🇺 Hungary 🇲🇩 Moldova 🇲🇰 North Macedonia 🇵🇱 Poland 🇷🇴 Romania 🇷🇺 Russia 🇷🇸 Serbia 🇸🇰 Slovakia 🇸🇮 Slovenia 🇺🇦 Ukraine