small tortoiseshell vs Speckled Fanner

Aglais urticae compared with Glyphipterix thrasonella

Key Differences

• small tortoiseshell is Near Threatened while Speckled Fanner is Least Concern.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	small tortoiseshell	Speckled Fanner
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)	Glyphipterigidae
Genus	Aglais	Glyphipterix
Species	Aglais urticae	Glyphipterix thrasonella

Evolutionary Relationship

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

Conservation Status

small tortoiseshell

NT — Near Threatened

Speckled Fanner

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	small tortoiseshell	Speckled Fanner
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.

Speckled Fanner

Habitat

Typically found in virtually all terrestrial and freshwater habitats.

Range

Distributed across Belgium, 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 4 countries:

🇧🇪 Belgium 🇩🇰 Denmark 🇳🇴 Norway 🇸🇪 Sweden