small tortoiseshell vs Starfruit

Aglais urticae compared with Damasonium alisma

Key Differences

small tortoiseshell is Near Threatened while Starfruit is Vulnerable.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	small tortoiseshell	Starfruit
Kingdom	Animalia (Animals)	Plantae (Plants)
Phylum	Arthropoda (Arthropods)	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)
Class	Insecta (Insects)	Liliopsida (Monocots)
Order	Lepidoptera (Butterflies & Moths)	Alismatales (Alismatales)
Family	Nymphalidae (Brush-footed Butterflies)	Alismataceae
Genus	Aglais	Damasonium
Species	Aglais urticae	Damasonium alisma

Conservation Status

small tortoiseshell

NT — Near Threatened

Starfruit

VU — Vulnerable

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	small tortoiseshell	Starfruit
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.

Starfruit

Habitat

Found across multiple habitat types including deserts and xeric shrublands, flooded grasslands and savannas, and Mediterranean forests and woodlands within the Palearctic biogeographic realm. Populations are also found in montane and highland environments at higher elevations.

Range

Distributed across Egypt and Portugal. Currently classified as Vulnerable 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.