small tortoiseshell vs starling mite

Aglais urticae compared with Ornithonyssus bursa

Key Differences

• small tortoiseshell is Near Threatened while starling mite is Not Evaluated.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	small tortoiseshell	starling mite
Kingdom same	Animalia (Animals)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum same	Arthropoda (Arthropods)	Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class	Insecta (Insects)	Arachnida (Arachnids)
Order	Lepidoptera (Butterflies & Moths)	Mesostigmata (Mesostigmata)
Family	Nymphalidae (Brush-footed Butterflies)	Macronyssidae
Genus	Aglais	Ornithonyssus
Species	Aglais urticae	Ornithonyssus bursa

Evolutionary Relationship

small tortoiseshell and starling mite share a common ancestor at the Phylum level: Arthropoda. (Arthropods)

Conservation Status

small tortoiseshell

NT — Near Threatened

starling mite

NE — Not Evaluated

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	small tortoiseshell	starling mite
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.

starling mite

Habitat

Typically found in terrestrial habitats from forests to deserts.

Range

Distributed across Czech Republic, Denmark, and Taiwan.

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:

🇨🇿 Czech Republic 🇩🇰 Denmark