Pale Clouded Yellow vs small tortoiseshell

Colias hyale compared with Aglais urticae

Key Differences

• Pale Clouded Yellow is Least Concern while small tortoiseshell is Near Threatened.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Pale Clouded Yellow	small tortoiseshell
Kingdom same	Animalia (Animals)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum same	Arthropoda (Arthropods)	Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class same	Insecta (Insects)	Insecta (Insects)
Order same	Lepidoptera (Butterflies & Moths)	Lepidoptera (Butterflies & Moths)
Family	Pieridae	Nymphalidae (Brush-footed Butterflies)
Genus	Colias	Aglais
Species	Colias hyale	Aglais urticae

Evolutionary Relationship

Pale Clouded Yellow and small tortoiseshell share a common ancestor at the Order level: Lepidoptera. (Butterflies & Moths)

Conservation Status

Pale Clouded Yellow

LC — Least Concern

small tortoiseshell

NT — Near Threatened

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Pale Clouded Yellow	small tortoiseshell
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Pale Clouded Yellow

Habitat

Typically found in virtually all terrestrial and freshwater habitats.

Range

Found across Europe (35 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.

Pale Clouded Yellow

Pale Clouded Yellow (Colias hyale) is classified as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List. Widespread and abundant across its range, with stable populations and no immediate conservation concerns.

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 35 countries:

🇦🇱 Albania 🇦🇹 Austria 🇧🇾 Belarus 🇧🇪 Belgium 🇧🇦 Bosnia and Herzegovina 🇧🇬 Bulgaria 🇭🇷 Croatia 🇨🇿 Czech Republic 🇩🇰 Denmark 🇪🇪 Estonia 🇫🇮 Finland 🇫🇷 France 🇩🇪 Germany 🇭🇺 Hungary 🇮🇹 Italy 🇱🇻 Latvia 🇱🇮 Liechtenstein 🇱🇹 Lithuania 🇱🇺 Luxembourg 🇲🇹 Malta 🇲🇩 Moldova 🇲🇪 Montenegro 🇳🇱 Netherlands 🇲🇰 North Macedonia 🇳🇴 Norway 🇵🇱 Poland 🇷🇴 Romania 🇷🇺 Russia 🇷🇸 Serbia 🇸🇰 Slovakia 🇸🇮 Slovenia 🇸🇪 Sweden 🇨🇭 Switzerland 🇺🇦 Ukraine 🇬🇧 United Kingdom