small tortoiseshell vs Three-lined Soldier

Aglais urticae compared with Oxycera trilineata

Key Differences

• small tortoiseshell is Near Threatened while Three-lined Soldier is Endangered.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	small tortoiseshell	Three-lined Soldier
Kingdom same	Animalia (Animals)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum same	Arthropoda (Arthropods)	Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class same	Insecta (Insects)	Insecta (Insects)
Order	Lepidoptera (Butterflies & Moths)	Diptera (Diptera)
Family	Nymphalidae (Brush-footed Butterflies)	Stratiomyidae
Genus	Aglais	Oxycera
Species	Aglais urticae	Oxycera trilineata

Evolutionary Relationship

small tortoiseshell and Three-lined Soldier share a common ancestor at the Class level: Insecta. (Insects)

Conservation Status

small tortoiseshell

NT — Near Threatened

Three-lined Soldier

EN — Endangered

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	small tortoiseshell	Three-lined Soldier
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.

Three-lined Soldier

Habitat

Typically found in virtually all terrestrial and freshwater habitats.

Range

Distributed across Belgium, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. 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 4 countries:

🇧🇪 Belgium 🇩🇰 Denmark 🇳🇴 Norway 🇸🇪 Sweden