small tortoiseshell vs Sweet iris

Aglais urticae compared with Iris pallida

Key Differences

• small tortoiseshell is Near Threatened while Sweet iris is Not Evaluated.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	small tortoiseshell	Sweet iris
Kingdom same	Animalia (Animals)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum same	Arthropoda (Arthropods)	Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class same	Insecta (Insects)	Insecta (Insects)
Order	Lepidoptera (Butterflies & Moths)	Mantodea (Mantodea)
Family	Nymphalidae (Brush-footed Butterflies)	Eremiaphilidae
Genus	Aglais	Iris
Species	Aglais urticae	Iris pallida

Evolutionary Relationship

small tortoiseshell and Sweet iris share a common ancestor at the Class level: Insecta. (Insects)

Conservation Status

small tortoiseshell

NT — Near Threatened

Sweet iris

NE — Not Evaluated

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	small tortoiseshell	Sweet iris
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.

Sweet iris

Habitat

Typically found in virtually all terrestrial and freshwater habitats.

Range

Widely distributed across Asia (India), Europe (15 countries), and North America (Canada, United States).

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 15 countries:

🇦🇱 Albania 🇦🇹 Austria 🇧🇪 Belgium 🇭🇷 Croatia 🇨🇿 Czech Republic 🇩🇰 Denmark 🇫🇷 France 🇩🇪 Germany 🇳🇱 Netherlands 🇳🇴 Norway 🇷🇴 Romania 🇸🇮 Slovenia 🇪🇸 Spain 🇸🇪 Sweden 🇬🇧 United Kingdom