small tortoiseshell vs Spur-winged Lapwing

Aglais urticae compared with Vanellus spinosus

Key Differences

• small tortoiseshell is Near Threatened while Spur-winged Lapwing is Not Evaluated.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	small tortoiseshell	Spur-winged Lapwing
Kingdom same	Animalia (Animals)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Arthropoda (Arthropods)	Chordata (Chordates)
Class	Insecta (Insects)	Aves (Birds)
Order	Lepidoptera (Butterflies & Moths)	Charadriiformes (Charadriiformes)
Family	Nymphalidae (Brush-footed Butterflies)	Charadriidae
Genus	Aglais	Vanellus
Species	Aglais urticae	Vanellus spinosus

Evolutionary Relationship

small tortoiseshell and Spur-winged Lapwing share a common ancestor at the Kingdom level: Animalia. (Animals)

Conservation Status

small tortoiseshell

NT — Near Threatened

Spur-winged Lapwing

NE — Not Evaluated

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	small tortoiseshell	Spur-winged Lapwing
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.

Spur-winged Lapwing

Habitat

Typically found in various aerial, terrestrial, and aquatic environments.

Range

Found across Europe (8 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.

Spur-winged Lapwing

Spur-winged Lapwing (Vanellus spinosus) is classified as Not Evaluated (NE) on the IUCN Red List. Not yet evaluated against IUCN Red List criteria. Conservation status remains to be determined.

Shared Countries

Both species can be found in 8 countries:

🇧🇪 Belgium 🇩🇰 Denmark 🇫🇷 France 🇩🇪 Germany 🇳🇱 Netherlands 🇳🇴 Norway 🇸🇪 Sweden 🇬🇧 United Kingdom