small tortoiseshell vs speckled rustwort

Aglais urticae compared with Marsupella sphacelata

Key Differences

• small tortoiseshell is Near Threatened while speckled rustwort is Least Concern.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	small tortoiseshell	speckled rustwort
Kingdom	Animalia (Animals)	Plantae (Plants)
Phylum	Arthropoda (Arthropods)	Marchantiophyta (liverwort)
Class	Insecta (Insects)	Jungermanniopsida (Jungermanniopsida)
Order	Lepidoptera (Butterflies & Moths)	Jungermanniales (Jungermanniales)
Family	Nymphalidae (Brush-footed Butterflies)	Gymnomitriaceae
Genus	Aglais	Marsupella
Species	Aglais urticae	Marsupella sphacelata

Conservation Status

small tortoiseshell

NT — Near Threatened

speckled rustwort

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	small tortoiseshell	speckled rustwort
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 rustwort

Habitat

Native to Europe and North America, inhabiting ecosystems characteristic of the region.

Range

Distributed across Norway, Portugal, Sweden, and United States.

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:

🇳🇴 Norway 🇵🇹 Portugal 🇸🇪 Sweden