Garden sorrel vs small tortoiseshell

Rumex thyrsiflorus compared with Aglais urticae

Key Differences

• Garden sorrel is Least Concern while small tortoiseshell is Near Threatened.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Garden sorrel	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	Polygonaceae	Nymphalidae (Brush-footed Butterflies)
Genus	Rumex	Aglais
Species	Rumex thyrsiflorus	Aglais urticae

Conservation Status

Garden sorrel

LC — Least Concern

small tortoiseshell

NT — Near Threatened

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Garden sorrel	small tortoiseshell
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Garden sorrel

Habitat

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

Range

Widely distributed across Asia (Uzbekistan), Europe (12 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 12 countries:

🇧🇪 Belgium 🇨🇿 Czech Republic 🇩🇰 Denmark 🇫🇮 Finland 🇫🇷 France 🇮🇸 Iceland 🇮🇹 Italy 🇳🇴 Norway 🇵🇱 Poland 🇸🇰 Slovakia 🇸🇪 Sweden 🇨🇭 Switzerland