small tortoiseshell vs Sour orange

Aglais urticae compared with Citrus aurantium

Key Differences

• small tortoiseshell is Near Threatened while Sour orange is Not Evaluated.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	small tortoiseshell	Sour orange
Kingdom	Animalia (Animals)	Plantae (Plants)
Phylum	Arthropoda (Arthropods)	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)
Class	Insecta (Insects)	Magnoliopsida (Dicots)
Order	Lepidoptera (Butterflies & Moths)	Sapindales (Sapindales)
Family	Nymphalidae (Brush-footed Butterflies)	Rutaceae
Genus	Aglais	Citrus
Species	Aglais urticae	Citrus aurantium

Conservation Status

small tortoiseshell

NT — Near Threatened

Sour orange

NE — Not Evaluated

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	small tortoiseshell	Sour orange
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.

Sour orange

Habitat

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

Range

Widely distributed across Africa (12 countries), Asia (5 countries), Europe (9 countries), North America (5 countries), Oceania and the Pacific (4 countries), and South America (Argentina, Brazil, Colombia).

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 9 countries:

🇦🇹 Austria 🇧🇪 Belgium 🇭🇷 Croatia 🇩🇰 Denmark 🇫🇷 France 🇳🇴 Norway 🇪🇸 Spain 🇸🇪 Sweden 🇬🇧 United Kingdom