Field Hawkweed vs small tortoiseshell

Pilosella caespitosa compared with Aglais urticae

Key Differences

• Field Hawkweed is Not Evaluated while small tortoiseshell is Near Threatened.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Field Hawkweed	small tortoiseshell
Kingdom	Plantae (Plants)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)	Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class	Magnoliopsida (Dicots)	Insecta (Insects)
Order	Asterales (Daisies & Sunflowers)	Lepidoptera (Butterflies & Moths)
Family	Asteraceae (Daisy Family)	Nymphalidae (Brush-footed Butterflies)
Genus	Pilosella	Aglais
Species	Pilosella caespitosa	Aglais urticae

Conservation Status

Field Hawkweed

NE — Not Evaluated

small tortoiseshell

NT — Near Threatened

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Field Hawkweed	small tortoiseshell
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Field Hawkweed

Habitat

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

Range

Widely distributed across Asia (Japan), Europe (7 countries), and North America (Canada, United States).

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 7 countries:

🇧🇪 Belgium 🇫🇷 France 🇮🇪 Ireland 🇱🇺 Luxembourg 🇳🇱 Netherlands 🇳🇴 Norway 🇬🇧 United Kingdom