Sand Lucerne vs small tortoiseshell

Medicago varia compared with Aglais urticae

Key Differences

• Sand Lucerne is Not Evaluated while small tortoiseshell is Near Threatened.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Sand Lucerne	small tortoiseshell
Kingdom	Plantae (Plants)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)	Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class	Magnoliopsida (Dicots)	Insecta (Insects)
Order	Fabales (Legumes & Allies)	Lepidoptera (Butterflies & Moths)
Family	Fabaceae	Nymphalidae (Brush-footed Butterflies)
Genus	Medicago	Aglais
Species	Medicago varia	Aglais urticae

Conservation Status

Sand Lucerne

NE — Not Evaluated

small tortoiseshell

NT — Near Threatened

Physical Characteristics

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

Habitat & Geographic Range

Sand Lucerne

Habitat

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

Range

Found across Asia (Cyprus) and Europe (19 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.

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 19 countries:

🇧🇪 Belgium 🇭🇷 Croatia 🇨🇿 Czech Republic 🇩🇰 Denmark 🇪🇪 Estonia 🇫🇮 Finland 🇫🇷 France 🇩🇪 Germany 🇮🇪 Ireland 🇱🇻 Latvia 🇲🇩 Moldova 🇳🇱 Netherlands 🇳🇴 Norway 🇵🇱 Poland 🇵🇹 Portugal 🇷🇺 Russia 🇸🇰 Slovakia 🇸🇪 Sweden 🇬🇧 United Kingdom