Four-colored Cuckoo-Bee vs small tortoiseshell

Bombus sylvestris compared with Aglais urticae

Key Differences

• Four-colored Cuckoo-Bee is Least Concern while small tortoiseshell is Near Threatened.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Four-colored Cuckoo-Bee	small tortoiseshell
Kingdom same	Animalia (Animals)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum same	Arthropoda (Arthropods)	Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class same	Insecta (Insects)	Insecta (Insects)
Order	Hymenoptera (Ants, Bees & Wasps)	Lepidoptera (Butterflies & Moths)
Family	Apidae (Bees)	Nymphalidae (Brush-footed Butterflies)
Genus	Bombus	Aglais
Species	Bombus sylvestris	Aglais urticae

Evolutionary Relationship

Four-colored Cuckoo-Bee and small tortoiseshell share a common ancestor at the Class level: Insecta. (Insects)

Conservation Status

Four-colored Cuckoo-Bee

LC — Least Concern

small tortoiseshell

NT — Near Threatened

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Four-colored Cuckoo-Bee	small tortoiseshell
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Four-colored Cuckoo-Bee

Habitat

Typically found in virtually all terrestrial and freshwater habitats.

Range

Distributed across Belgium, Denmark, Luxembourg, Norway, and Sweden.

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 5 countries:

🇧🇪 Belgium 🇩🇰 Denmark 🇱🇺 Luxembourg 🇳🇴 Norway 🇸🇪 Sweden