small tortoiseshell vs White Mullein

Aglais urticae compared with Verbascum lychnitis

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	small tortoiseshell	White Mullein
Kingdom	Animalia (Animals)	Plantae (Plants)
Phylum	Arthropoda (Arthropods)	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)
Class	Insecta (Insects)	Magnoliopsida (Dicots)
Order	Lepidoptera (Butterflies & Moths)	Lamiales (Lamiales)
Family	Nymphalidae (Brush-footed Butterflies)	Scrophulariaceae
Genus	Aglais	Verbascum
Species	Aglais urticae	Verbascum lychnitis

Conservation Status

small tortoiseshell

NT — Near Threatened

White Mullein

NT — Near Threatened

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	small tortoiseshell	White Mullein
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.

White Mullein

Habitat

Typically found in diverse terrestrial habitats from tropical forests to temperate regions.

Range

Found across Europe (11 countries) and North America (Canada, United States). Listed as Near Threatened, this species requires ongoing monitoring to prevent population decline.

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 11 countries:

🇧🇪 Belgium 🇩🇰 Denmark 🇪🇪 Estonia 🇫🇮 Finland 🇱🇻 Latvia 🇱🇹 Lithuania 🇳🇴 Norway 🇵🇹 Portugal 🇷🇺 Russia 🇪🇸 Spain 🇸🇪 Sweden