small tortoiseshell vs Vestal Cuckoo Bee

Aglais urticae compared with Bombus vestalis

Key Differences

• small tortoiseshell is Near Threatened while Vestal Cuckoo Bee is Least Concern.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	small tortoiseshell	Vestal Cuckoo Bee
Kingdom same	Animalia (Animals)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum same	Arthropoda (Arthropods)	Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class same	Insecta (Insects)	Insecta (Insects)
Order	Lepidoptera (Butterflies & Moths)	Hymenoptera (Ants, Bees & Wasps)
Family	Nymphalidae (Brush-footed Butterflies)	Apidae (Bees)
Genus	Aglais	Bombus
Species	Aglais urticae	Bombus vestalis

Evolutionary Relationship

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

Conservation Status

small tortoiseshell

NT — Near Threatened

Vestal Cuckoo Bee

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	small tortoiseshell	Vestal Cuckoo Bee
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.

Vestal Cuckoo Bee

Habitat

Typically found in virtually all terrestrial and freshwater habitats.

Range

Distributed across Belgium, Denmark, Luxembourg, 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 5 countries:

🇧🇪 Belgium 🇩🇰 Denmark 🇱🇺 Luxembourg 🇳🇴 Norway 🇸🇪 Sweden