Indian toothcup vs small tortoiseshell

Rotala indica compared with Aglais urticae

Key Differences

• Indian toothcup is Least Concern while small tortoiseshell is Near Threatened.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Indian toothcup	small tortoiseshell
Kingdom	Plantae (Plants)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)	Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class	Magnoliopsida (Dicots)	Insecta (Insects)
Order	Myrtales (Myrtales)	Lepidoptera (Butterflies & Moths)
Family	Lythraceae	Nymphalidae (Brush-footed Butterflies)
Genus	Rotala	Aglais
Species	Rotala indica	Aglais urticae

Conservation Status

Indian toothcup

LC — Least Concern

small tortoiseshell

NT — Near Threatened

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Indian toothcup	small tortoiseshell
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Indian toothcup

Habitat

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

Range

Widely distributed across Asia (India, Uzbekistan), Europe (Italy, Portugal, Spain), North America (United States), and Oceania and the Pacific (Australia).

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 3 countries:

🇮🇹 Italy 🇵🇹 Portugal 🇪🇸 Spain