Eve's needle cactus vs small tortoiseshell

Austrocylindropuntia subulata compared with Aglais urticae

Key Differences

• Eve's needle cactus is Least Concern while small tortoiseshell is Near Threatened.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Eve's needle cactus	small tortoiseshell
Kingdom	Plantae (Plants)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)	Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class	Magnoliopsida (Dicots)	Insecta (Insects)
Order	Caryophyllales (Caryophyllales)	Lepidoptera (Butterflies & Moths)
Family	Cactaceae	Nymphalidae (Brush-footed Butterflies)
Genus	Austrocylindropuntia	Aglais
Species	Austrocylindropuntia subulata	Aglais urticae

Conservation Status

Eve's needle cactus

LC — Least Concern

small tortoiseshell

NT — Near Threatened

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Eve's needle cactus	small tortoiseshell
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Eve's needle cactus

Habitat

Inhabits tropical and subtropical grasslands and savannas within the Afrotropic biogeographic realm.

Range

Widely distributed across Africa (5 countries), Europe (4 countries), North America (United States), Oceania and the Pacific (Australia), and South America (Brazil, Colombia).

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 4 countries:

🇮🇹 Italy 🇳🇴 Norway 🇵🇹 Portugal 🇪🇸 Spain