vs small tortoiseshell

Mollisia ramealis compared with Aglais urticae

Key Differences

• is Least Concern while small tortoiseshell is Near Threatened.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank		small tortoiseshell
Kingdom	Fungi (Fungi)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Ascomycota (Sac Fungi)	Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class	Leotiomycetes (Leotiomycetes)	Insecta (Insects)
Order	Helotiales (Helotiales)	Lepidoptera (Butterflies & Moths)
Family	Mollisiaceae	Nymphalidae (Brush-footed Butterflies)
Genus	Mollisia	Aglais
Species	Mollisia ramealis	Aglais urticae

Conservation Status

LC — Least Concern

small tortoiseshell

NT — Near Threatened

Physical Characteristics

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

Habitat & Geographic Range

Habitat

Native to Europe, inhabiting ecosystems characteristic of the region.

Range

Distributed across Belgium, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden.

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.

Mollisia ramealis is a small, grey to olive-grey disc fungus producing cup-shaped apothecia on dead herbaceous and woody plant material. It inhabits temperate forests and hedgerows across Europe, growing on dead twigs and stems. This saprotrophic ascomycete decomposes dead plant tissue in moist forest understory environments.

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