Pavement ant vs small tortoiseshell

Tetramorium caespitum compared with Aglais urticae

Key Differences

• Pavement ant is Least Concern while small tortoiseshell is Near Threatened.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Pavement ant	small tortoiseshell
Kingdom same	Animalia (Animals)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum same	Arthropoda (Arthropods)	Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class same	Insecta (Insects)	Insecta (Insects)
Order	Hymenoptera (Ants, Bees & Wasps)	Lepidoptera (Butterflies & Moths)
Family	Formicidae	Nymphalidae (Brush-footed Butterflies)
Genus	Tetramorium	Aglais
Species	Tetramorium caespitum	Aglais urticae

Evolutionary Relationship

Pavement ant and small tortoiseshell share a common ancestor at the Class level: Insecta. (Insects)

Conservation Status

Pavement ant

LC — Least Concern

small tortoiseshell

NT — Near Threatened

Physical Characteristics

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

Habitat & Geographic Range

Pavement ant

Habitat

Typically found in virtually all terrestrial and freshwater habitats.

Range

Widely distributed across Asia (India), Europe (6 countries), North America (United States), and South America (Argentina, Venezuela).

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 6 countries:

🇧🇪 Belgium 🇩🇰 Denmark 🇱🇺 Luxembourg 🇳🇴 Norway 🇵🇹 Portugal 🇸🇪 Sweden