Prickly Russian Thistle vs small tortoiseshell

Salsola tragus compared with Aglais urticae

Key Differences

• Prickly Russian Thistle is Not Evaluated while small tortoiseshell is Near Threatened.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Prickly Russian Thistle	small tortoiseshell
Kingdom	Plantae (Plants)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)	Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class	Magnoliopsida (Dicots)	Insecta (Insects)
Order	Caryophyllales (Caryophyllales)	Lepidoptera (Butterflies & Moths)
Family	Amaranthaceae	Nymphalidae (Brush-footed Butterflies)
Genus	Salsola	Aglais
Species	Salsola tragus	Aglais urticae

Conservation Status

Prickly Russian Thistle

NE — Not Evaluated

small tortoiseshell

NT — Near Threatened

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Prickly Russian Thistle	small tortoiseshell
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Prickly Russian Thistle

Habitat

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

Range

Widely distributed across Africa (Lesotho, South Africa), Europe (8 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 8 countries:

🇧🇪 Belgium 🇩🇰 Denmark 🇩🇪 Germany 🇮🇸 Iceland 🇱🇹 Lithuania 🇳🇴 Norway 🇷🇺 Russia 🇸🇪 Sweden