Gray-Orange Disk Lichen vs small tortoiseshell

Lecidea lapicida compared with Aglais urticae

Key Differences

• Gray-Orange Disk Lichen is Least Concern while small tortoiseshell is Near Threatened.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Gray-Orange Disk Lichen	small tortoiseshell
Kingdom	Fungi (Fungi)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Ascomycota (Sac Fungi)	Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class	Lecanoromycetes (Lecanoromycetes)	Insecta (Insects)
Order	Lecideales (Lecideales)	Lepidoptera (Butterflies & Moths)
Family	Lecideaceae	Nymphalidae (Brush-footed Butterflies)
Genus	Lecidea	Aglais
Species	Lecidea lapicida	Aglais urticae

Conservation Status

Gray-Orange Disk Lichen

LC — Least Concern

small tortoiseshell

NT — Near Threatened

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Gray-Orange Disk Lichen	small tortoiseshell
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Gray-Orange Disk Lichen

Habitat

Native to Europe and North America, inhabiting ecosystems characteristic of the region.

Range

Distributed across Denmark, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, and 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 4 countries:

🇩🇰 Denmark 🇳🇴 Norway 🇵🇹 Portugal 🇸🇪 Sweden