hemlock water-dropwort vs small tortoiseshell

Oenanthe crocata compared with Aglais urticae

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	hemlock water-dropwort	small tortoiseshell
Kingdom same	Animalia (Animals)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Chordata (Chordates)	Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class	Aves (Birds)	Insecta (Insects)
Order	Passeriformes (Songbirds)	Lepidoptera (Butterflies & Moths)
Family	Muscicapidae	Nymphalidae (Brush-footed Butterflies)
Genus	Oenanthe	Aglais
Species	Oenanthe crocata	Aglais urticae

Evolutionary Relationship

hemlock water-dropwort and small tortoiseshell share a common ancestor at the Kingdom level: Animalia. (Animals)

Conservation Status

hemlock water-dropwort

NT — Near Threatened

small tortoiseshell

NT — Near Threatened

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	hemlock water-dropwort	small tortoiseshell
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

hemlock water-dropwort

Habitat

Found across multiple habitat types including tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, temperate grasslands and steppes, and flooded grasslands and savannas, among 4 distinct biome types within the Neotropic biogeographic realm.

Range

Distributed across Argentina, Belgium, Denmark, Portugal, and Sweden. Listed as Near Threatened, this species requires ongoing monitoring to prevent population decline.

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:

🇧🇪 Belgium 🇩🇰 Denmark 🇵🇹 Portugal 🇸🇪 Sweden