small tortoiseshell vs Water yam

Aglais urticae compared with Dioscorea alata

Key Differences

• small tortoiseshell is Near Threatened while Water yam is Not Evaluated.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	small tortoiseshell	Water yam
Kingdom	Animalia (Animals)	Plantae (Plants)
Phylum	Arthropoda (Arthropods)	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)
Class	Insecta (Insects)	Liliopsida (Monocots)
Order	Lepidoptera (Butterflies & Moths)	Dioscoreales (Dioscoreales)
Family	Nymphalidae (Brush-footed Butterflies)	Dioscoreaceae
Genus	Aglais	Dioscorea
Species	Aglais urticae	Dioscorea alata

Conservation Status

small tortoiseshell

NT — Near Threatened

Water yam

NE — Not Evaluated

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	small tortoiseshell	Water yam
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.

Water yam

Habitat

Typically found in grasslands, wetlands, forests, and cultivated landscapes.

Range

Widely distributed across Africa (16 countries), Asia (Maldives, Taiwan), Europe (United Kingdom), North America (13 countries), Oceania and the Pacific (4 countries), and South America (6 countries).

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 1 countries:

🇬🇧 United Kingdom