Everlasting Pea vs small tortoiseshell

Lathyrus sylvestris compared with Aglais urticae

Key Differences

• Everlasting Pea is Least Concern while small tortoiseshell is Near Threatened.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Everlasting Pea	small tortoiseshell
Kingdom	Plantae (Plants)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)	Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class	Magnoliopsida (Dicots)	Insecta (Insects)
Order	Fabales (Legumes & Allies)	Lepidoptera (Butterflies & Moths)
Family	Fabaceae	Nymphalidae (Brush-footed Butterflies)
Genus	Lathyrus	Aglais
Species	Lathyrus sylvestris	Aglais urticae

Conservation Status

Everlasting Pea

LC — Least Concern

small tortoiseshell

NT — Near Threatened

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Everlasting Pea	small tortoiseshell
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Everlasting Pea

Habitat

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

Range

Widely distributed across Europe (6 countries), North America (Canada, United States), Oceania and the Pacific (Australia), 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 🇫🇮 Finland 🇳🇴 Norway 🇵🇹 Portugal 🇸🇪 Sweden