small tortoiseshell vs St. Bees Seed-eater

Aglais urticae compared with Harpalus honestus

Key Differences

• small tortoiseshell is Near Threatened while St. Bees Seed-eater is Critically Endangered.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	small tortoiseshell	St. Bees Seed-eater
Kingdom same	Animalia (Animals)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum same	Arthropoda (Arthropods)	Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class same	Insecta (Insects)	Insecta (Insects)
Order	Lepidoptera (Butterflies & Moths)	Coleoptera (Beetles)
Family	Nymphalidae (Brush-footed Butterflies)	Carabidae
Genus	Aglais	Harpalus
Species	Aglais urticae	Harpalus honestus

Evolutionary Relationship

small tortoiseshell and St. Bees Seed-eater share a common ancestor at the Class level: Insecta. (Insects)

Conservation Status

small tortoiseshell

NT — Near Threatened

St. Bees Seed-eater

CR — Critically Endangered

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	small tortoiseshell	St. Bees Seed-eater
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.

St. Bees Seed-eater

Habitat

Typically found in virtually all terrestrial and freshwater habitats.

Range

Distributed across Belgium and Switzerland. Currently classified as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, this species faces significant conservation challenges across its range.

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 2 countries:

🇧🇪 Belgium 🇨🇭 Switzerland