Prickly comfrey vs small tortoiseshell

Symphytum asperum compared with Aglais urticae

Key Differences

• Prickly comfrey is Not Evaluated while small tortoiseshell is Near Threatened.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Prickly comfrey	small tortoiseshell
Kingdom	Plantae (Plants)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)	Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class	Magnoliopsida (Dicots)	Insecta (Insects)
Order	Boraginales (Boraginales)	Lepidoptera (Butterflies & Moths)
Family	Boraginaceae	Nymphalidae (Brush-footed Butterflies)
Genus	Symphytum	Aglais
Species	Symphytum asperum	Aglais urticae

Conservation Status

Prickly comfrey

NE — Not Evaluated

small tortoiseshell

NT — Near Threatened

Physical Characteristics

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

Habitat & Geographic Range

Prickly comfrey

Habitat

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

Range

Widely distributed across Asia (Japan, Kyrgyzstan, Taiwan), Europe (23 countries), and North America (Canada, 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 23 countries:

🇦🇹 Austria 🇧🇾 Belarus 🇧🇪 Belgium 🇨🇿 Czech Republic 🇩🇰 Denmark 🇪🇪 Estonia 🇫🇮 Finland 🇫🇷 France 🇩🇪 Germany 🇮🇸 Iceland 🇮🇪 Ireland 🇮🇹 Italy 🇱🇻 Latvia 🇳🇱 Netherlands 🇳🇴 Norway 🇵🇱 Poland 🇷🇺 Russia 🇸🇮 Slovenia 🇪🇸 Spain 🇸🇪 Sweden 🇨🇭 Switzerland 🇺🇦 Ukraine 🇬🇧 United Kingdom