small tortoiseshell vs Tufted Clusterfly

Aglais urticae compared with Pollenia pediculata

Key Differences

• small tortoiseshell is Near Threatened while Tufted Clusterfly is Least Concern.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	small tortoiseshell	Tufted Clusterfly
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)	Polleniidae
Genus	Aglais	Pollenia
Species	Aglais urticae	Pollenia pediculata

Evolutionary Relationship

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

Conservation Status

small tortoiseshell

NT — Near Threatened

Tufted Clusterfly

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	small tortoiseshell	Tufted Clusterfly
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.

Tufted Clusterfly

Habitat

Typically found in virtually all terrestrial and freshwater habitats.

Range

Distributed across Denmark, Norway, Portugal, 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 4 countries:

🇩🇰 Denmark 🇳🇴 Norway 🇵🇹 Portugal 🇸🇪 Sweden