small tortoiseshell vs Smooth rattlebox

Aglais urticae compared with Crotalaria pallida

Key Differences

• small tortoiseshell is Near Threatened while Smooth rattlebox is Least Concern.

Taxonomic Classification

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

Conservation Status

small tortoiseshell

NT — Near Threatened

Smooth rattlebox

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	small tortoiseshell	Smooth rattlebox
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

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.

Smooth rattlebox

Habitat

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

Range

Widely distributed across Africa (4 countries), Asia (6 countries), Europe (United Kingdom), North America (El Salvador, United States), Oceania and the Pacific (10 countries), and South America (4 countries).

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 1 countries:

🇬🇧 United Kingdom