Scarce Blue-tailed Damselfly vs small tortoiseshell

Ischnura pumilio compared with Aglais urticae

Key Differences

• Scarce Blue-tailed Damselfly is Least Concern while small tortoiseshell is Near Threatened.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Scarce Blue-tailed Damselfly	small tortoiseshell
Kingdom same	Animalia (Animals)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum same	Arthropoda (Arthropods)	Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class same	Insecta (Insects)	Insecta (Insects)
Order	Odonata (Odonata)	Lepidoptera (Butterflies & Moths)
Family	Coenagrionidae	Nymphalidae (Brush-footed Butterflies)
Genus	Ischnura	Aglais
Species	Ischnura pumilio	Aglais urticae

Evolutionary Relationship

Scarce Blue-tailed Damselfly and small tortoiseshell share a common ancestor at the Class level: Insecta. (Insects)

Conservation Status

Scarce Blue-tailed Damselfly

LC — Least Concern

small tortoiseshell

NT — Near Threatened

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Scarce Blue-tailed Damselfly	small tortoiseshell
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Scarce Blue-tailed Damselfly

Habitat

Typically found in virtually all terrestrial and freshwater habitats.

Range

Found across Europe (6 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.

Scarce Blue-tailed Damselfly

Scarce Blue-tailed Damselfly (Ischnura pumilio) 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 6 countries:

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