small tortoiseshell vs Southern Bent-wing

Aglais urticae compared with Leucoptera lathyrifoliella

Key Differences

• small tortoiseshell is Near Threatened while Southern Bent-wing is Not Evaluated.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	small tortoiseshell	Southern Bent-wing
Kingdom same	Animalia (Animals)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum same	Arthropoda (Arthropods)	Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class same	Insecta (Insects)	Insecta (Insects)
Order same	Lepidoptera (Butterflies & Moths)	Lepidoptera (Butterflies & Moths)
Family	Nymphalidae (Brush-footed Butterflies)	Lyonetiidae
Genus	Aglais	Leucoptera
Species	Aglais urticae	Leucoptera lathyrifoliella

Evolutionary Relationship

small tortoiseshell and Southern Bent-wing share a common ancestor at the Order level: Lepidoptera. (Butterflies & Moths)

Conservation Status

small tortoiseshell

NT — Near Threatened

Southern Bent-wing

NE — Not Evaluated

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	small tortoiseshell	Southern Bent-wing
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.

Southern Bent-wing

Habitat

Typically found in virtually all terrestrial and freshwater habitats.

Range

Distributed across Denmark, Norway, and Sweden.

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 3 countries:

🇩🇰 Denmark 🇳🇴 Norway 🇸🇪 Sweden