small tortoiseshell vs spring groundsel

Aglais urticae compared with Senecio vernalis

Key Differences

• small tortoiseshell is Near Threatened while spring groundsel is Not Evaluated.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	small tortoiseshell	spring groundsel
Kingdom	Animalia (Animals)	Plantae (Plants)
Phylum	Arthropoda (Arthropods)	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)
Class	Insecta (Insects)	Magnoliopsida (Dicots)
Order	Lepidoptera (Butterflies & Moths)	Asterales (Daisies & Sunflowers)
Family	Nymphalidae (Brush-footed Butterflies)	Asteraceae (Daisy Family)
Genus	Aglais	Senecio
Species	Aglais urticae	Senecio vernalis

Conservation Status

small tortoiseshell

NT — Near Threatened

spring groundsel

NE — Not Evaluated

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	small tortoiseshell	spring groundsel
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.

spring groundsel

Habitat

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

Range

Widely distributed across Asia (Uzbekistan), Europe (22 countries), and South America (Ecuador).

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 22 countries:

🇧🇪 Belgium 🇧🇬 Bulgaria 🇨🇿 Czech Republic 🇩🇰 Denmark 🇪🇪 Estonia 🇫🇮 Finland 🇫🇷 France 🇩🇪 Germany 🇭🇺 Hungary 🇮🇸 Iceland 🇮🇹 Italy 🇱🇻 Latvia 🇱🇹 Lithuania 🇱🇺 Luxembourg 🇳🇱 Netherlands 🇳🇴 Norway 🇵🇱 Poland 🇷🇺 Russia 🇸🇰 Slovakia 🇪🇸 Spain 🇸🇪 Sweden 🇬🇧 United Kingdom