small tortoiseshell vs Summer snowflake

Aglais urticae compared with Leucojum aestivum

Key Differences

• small tortoiseshell is Near Threatened while Summer snowflake is Endangered.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	small tortoiseshell	Summer snowflake
Kingdom	Animalia (Animals)	Plantae (Plants)
Phylum	Arthropoda (Arthropods)	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)
Class	Insecta (Insects)	Liliopsida (Monocots)
Order	Lepidoptera (Butterflies & Moths)	Asparagales (Asparagales)
Family	Nymphalidae (Brush-footed Butterflies)	Amaryllidaceae
Genus	Aglais	Leucojum
Species	Aglais urticae	Leucojum aestivum

Conservation Status

small tortoiseshell

NT — Near Threatened

Summer snowflake

EN — Endangered

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	small tortoiseshell	Summer snowflake
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.

Summer snowflake

Habitat

Found across multiple habitat types including tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, temperate grasslands and steppes, and flooded grasslands and savannas, among 4 distinct biome types within the Neotropic biogeographic realm.

Range

Widely distributed across Asia (India), Europe (6 countries), North America (Canada, United States), Oceania and the Pacific (Australia), and South America (Argentina). Currently classified as 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 6 countries:

🇧🇪 Belgium 🇩🇰 Denmark 🇫🇷 France 🇩🇪 Germany 🇳🇴 Norway 🇸🇪 Sweden