Meadow knapweed vs small tortoiseshell

Centaurea debeauxii compared with Aglais urticae

Key Differences

• Meadow knapweed is Not Evaluated while small tortoiseshell is Near Threatened.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Meadow knapweed	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	Centaurea	Aglais
Species	Centaurea debeauxii	Aglais urticae

Conservation Status

Meadow knapweed

NE — Not Evaluated

small tortoiseshell

NT — Near Threatened

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Meadow knapweed	small tortoiseshell
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Meadow knapweed

Habitat

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

Range

Distributed across Belgium, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and United States.

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 4 countries:

🇧🇪 Belgium 🇩🇰 Denmark 🇳🇴 Norway 🇸🇪 Sweden