small tortoiseshell vs Thrips

Aglais urticae compared with Aptinothrips stylifer

Key Differences

• small tortoiseshell is Near Threatened while Thrips is Not Evaluated.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	small tortoiseshell	Thrips
Kingdom same	Animalia (Animals)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum same	Arthropoda (Arthropods)	Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class same	Insecta (Insects)	Insecta (Insects)
Order	Lepidoptera (Butterflies & Moths)	Thysanoptera (Thysanoptera)
Family	Nymphalidae (Brush-footed Butterflies)	Thripidae
Genus	Aglais	Aptinothrips
Species	Aglais urticae	Aptinothrips stylifer

Evolutionary Relationship

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

Conservation Status

small tortoiseshell

NT — Near Threatened

Thrips

NE — Not Evaluated

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	small tortoiseshell	Thrips
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.

Thrips

Habitat

Typically found in virtually all terrestrial and freshwater habitats.

Range

Distributed across Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and 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 3 countries:

🇩🇰 Denmark 🇳🇴 Norway 🇸🇪 Sweden