High mallow vs small tortoiseshell

Malva sylvestris compared with Aglais urticae

Key Differences

• High mallow is Least Concern while small tortoiseshell is Near Threatened.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	High mallow	small tortoiseshell
Kingdom	Plantae (Plants)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)	Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class	Magnoliopsida (Dicots)	Insecta (Insects)
Order	Malvales (Malvales)	Lepidoptera (Butterflies & Moths)
Family	Malvaceae	Nymphalidae (Brush-footed Butterflies)
Genus	Malva	Aglais
Species	Malva sylvestris	Aglais urticae

Conservation Status

High mallow

LC — Least Concern

small tortoiseshell

NT — Near Threatened

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	High mallow	small tortoiseshell
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

High mallow

Habitat

Inhabits tropical and subtropical grasslands and savannas within the Afrotropic biogeographic realm.

Range

Widely distributed across Africa (Angola, Zimbabwe), Asia (6 countries), Europe (24 countries), North America (Canada, United States), Oceania and the Pacific (Australia), and South America (5 countries).

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 24 countries:

🇦🇹 Austria 🇧🇾 Belarus 🇧🇪 Belgium 🇧🇬 Bulgaria 🇨🇿 Czech Republic 🇩🇰 Denmark 🇪🇪 Estonia 🇫🇮 Finland 🇫🇷 France 🇩🇪 Germany 🇭🇺 Hungary 🇮🇪 Ireland 🇱🇻 Latvia 🇱🇮 Liechtenstein 🇱🇹 Lithuania 🇳🇱 Netherlands 🇳🇴 Norway 🇵🇱 Poland 🇵🇹 Portugal 🇸🇰 Slovakia 🇪🇸 Spain 🇸🇪 Sweden 🇺🇦 Ukraine 🇬🇧 United Kingdom