Marsh fleabane vs small tortoiseshell

Pluchea carolinensis compared with Aglais urticae

Key Differences

• Marsh fleabane is Least Concern while small tortoiseshell is Near Threatened.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Marsh fleabane	small tortoiseshell
Kingdom	Plantae (Plants)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)	Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class	Magnoliopsida (Dicots)	Insecta (Insects)
Order	Asterales (Daisies & Sunflowers)	Lepidoptera (Butterflies & Moths)
Family	Asteraceae (Daisy Family)	Nymphalidae (Brush-footed Butterflies)
Genus	Pluchea	Aglais
Species	Pluchea carolinensis	Aglais urticae

Conservation Status

Marsh fleabane

LC — Least Concern

small tortoiseshell

NT — Near Threatened

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Marsh fleabane	small tortoiseshell
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Marsh fleabane

Habitat

Inhabits tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests within the Oceanian biogeographic realm.

Range

Widely distributed across Asia (Taiwan), Europe (Spain), North America (5 countries), and Oceania and the Pacific (6 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 1 countries:

🇪🇸 Spain