small tortoiseshell vs Weeping Widow

Aglais urticae compared with Lacrymaria lacrymabunda

Key Differences

• small tortoiseshell is Near Threatened while Weeping Widow is Least Concern.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	small tortoiseshell	Weeping Widow
Kingdom	Animalia (Animals)	Fungi (Fungi)
Phylum	Arthropoda (Arthropods)	Basidiomycota (Club Fungi)
Class	Insecta (Insects)	Agaricomycetes (Mushrooms)
Order	Lepidoptera (Butterflies & Moths)	Agaricales (Gilled Mushrooms)
Family	Nymphalidae (Brush-footed Butterflies)	Psathyrellaceae
Genus	Aglais	Lacrymaria
Species	Aglais urticae	Lacrymaria lacrymabunda

Conservation Status

small tortoiseshell

NT — Near Threatened

Weeping Widow

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	small tortoiseshell	Weeping Widow
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.

Weeping Widow

Habitat

Typically found in forest floors, decomposing wood, and soil ecosystems.

Range

Widely distributed across Asia (Taiwan), Europe (5 countries), and North America (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 5 countries:

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