marsh thistle vs small tortoiseshell

Cirsium palustre compared with Aglais urticae

Key Differences

• marsh thistle is Least Concern while small tortoiseshell is Near Threatened.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	marsh thistle	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	Cirsium	Aglais
Species	Cirsium palustre	Aglais urticae

Conservation Status

marsh thistle

LC — Least Concern

small tortoiseshell

NT — Near Threatened

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	marsh thistle	small tortoiseshell
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

marsh thistle

Habitat

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

Range

Widely distributed across Europe (8 countries), North America (Canada, United States), and Oceania and the Pacific (New Zealand).

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 8 countries:

🇧🇪 Belgium 🇩🇰 Denmark 🇫🇮 Finland 🇫🇷 France 🇮🇸 Iceland 🇳🇴 Norway 🇵🇹 Portugal 🇸🇪 Sweden