small tortoiseshell vs thick-lipped risso snail

Aglais urticae compared with Rissoa membranacea

Key Differences

• small tortoiseshell is Near Threatened while thick-lipped risso snail is Least Concern.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	small tortoiseshell	thick-lipped risso snail
Kingdom same	Animalia (Animals)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Arthropoda (Arthropods)	Mollusca (Mollusks)
Class	Insecta (Insects)	Gastropoda (Gastropoda)
Order	Lepidoptera (Butterflies & Moths)	Littorinimorpha (Littorinimorpha)
Family	Nymphalidae (Brush-footed Butterflies)	Rissoidae
Genus	Aglais	Rissoa
Species	Aglais urticae	Rissoa membranacea

Evolutionary Relationship

small tortoiseshell and thick-lipped risso snail share a common ancestor at the Kingdom level: Animalia. (Animals)

Conservation Status

small tortoiseshell

NT — Near Threatened

thick-lipped risso snail

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	small tortoiseshell	thick-lipped risso snail
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.

thick-lipped risso snail

Habitat

Typically found in terrestrial and aquatic habitats including forests and freshwater.

Range

Distributed across Denmark, Norway, and Sweden.

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 3 countries:

🇩🇰 Denmark 🇳🇴 Norway 🇸🇪 Sweden