small tortoiseshell vs Viper's Bugloss Mason Bee

Aglais urticae compared with Hoplitis adunca

Key Differences

• small tortoiseshell is Near Threatened while Viper's Bugloss Mason Bee is Not Evaluated.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	small tortoiseshell	Viper's Bugloss Mason 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)	Megachilidae
Genus	Aglais	Hoplitis
Species	Aglais urticae	Hoplitis adunca

Evolutionary Relationship

small tortoiseshell and Viper's Bugloss Mason Bee share a common ancestor at the Class level: Insecta. (Insects)

Conservation Status

small tortoiseshell

NT — Near Threatened

Viper's Bugloss Mason Bee

NE — Not Evaluated

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	small tortoiseshell	Viper's Bugloss Mason 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.

Viper's Bugloss Mason Bee

Habitat

Typically found in virtually all terrestrial and freshwater habitats.

Range

Distributed across Belgium, Denmark, Luxembourg, Sweden, and United Kingdom.

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 🇸🇪 Sweden 🇬🇧 United Kingdom