heath fritillary vs Long-tailed Sylph

Melitaea athalia compared with Aglaiocercus kingii

Key Differences

• heath fritillary is Extinct while Long-tailed Sylph is Least Concern.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	heath fritillary	Long-tailed Sylph
Kingdom same	Animalia (Animals)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Arthropoda (Arthropods)	Chordata (Chordates)
Class	Insecta (Insects)	Aves (Birds)
Order	Lepidoptera (Butterflies & Moths)	Apodiformes (Apodiformes)
Family	Nymphalidae (Brush-footed Butterflies)	Trochilidae
Genus	Melitaea	Aglaiocercus
Species	Melitaea athalia	Aglaiocercus kingii

Evolutionary Relationship

heath fritillary and Long-tailed Sylph share a common ancestor at the Kingdom level: Animalia. (Animals)

Conservation Status

heath fritillary

EX — Extinct

Long-tailed Sylph

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	heath fritillary	Long-tailed Sylph
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

heath fritillary

Habitat

Typically found in virtually all terrestrial and freshwater habitats.

Range

Found across Europe (35 countries).

Long-tailed Sylph

Habitat

Typically found in various aerial, terrestrial, and aquatic environments.

Range

Distributed across Colombia, Ecuador, Norway, and Venezuela.

Long-tailed Sylph

One of the most strikingly ornamented hummingbirds, male long-tailed sylphs have iridescent green plumage and dramatically elongated, ribbon-like outer tail feathers reaching up to 22 cm — over three times the body length. Found in Andean cloud forests of Colombia and Venezuela, they inhabit humid montane forest between 1,400–2,800 meters elevation. Males perform elaborate display flights to attract females. Their extravagant tails are a classic example of sexual selection via female preference.

Shared Countries

Both species can be found in 1 countries:

🇳🇴 Norway