Malabar nut vs small tortoiseshell

Justicia adhatoda compared with Aglais urticae

Key Differences

• Malabar nut is Least Concern while small tortoiseshell is Near Threatened.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Malabar nut	small tortoiseshell
Kingdom	Plantae (Plants)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)	Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class	Magnoliopsida (Dicots)	Insecta (Insects)
Order	Lamiales (Lamiales)	Lepidoptera (Butterflies & Moths)
Family	Acanthaceae	Nymphalidae (Brush-footed Butterflies)
Genus	Justicia	Aglais
Species	Justicia adhatoda	Aglais urticae

Conservation Status

Malabar nut

LC — Least Concern

small tortoiseshell

NT — Near Threatened

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Malabar nut	small tortoiseshell
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Malabar nut

Habitat

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

Range

Found across Asia (China, Cyprus, Taiwan) and Europe (Greece, Italy, Malta).

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:

🇬🇷 Greece 🇮🇹 Italy 🇲🇹 Malta