small tortoiseshell vs Southern midget

Aglais urticae compared with Phyllonorycter dubitella

Key Differences

• small tortoiseshell is Near Threatened while Southern midget is Least Concern.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	small tortoiseshell	Southern midget
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)	Gracillariidae
Genus	Aglais	Phyllonorycter
Species	Aglais urticae	Phyllonorycter dubitella

Evolutionary Relationship

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

Conservation Status

small tortoiseshell

NT — Near Threatened

Southern midget

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	small tortoiseshell	Southern midget
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 midget

Habitat

Typically found in virtually all terrestrial and freshwater habitats.

Range

Found across Europe (6 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 6 countries:

🇧🇪 Belgium 🇩🇰 Denmark 🇮🇹 Italy 🇳🇴 Norway 🇷🇺 Russia 🇸🇪 Sweden