small tortoiseshell vs wild cat

Aglais urticae compared with Felis silvestris

Key Differences

• small tortoiseshell is Near Threatened while wild cat is Critically Endangered.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	small tortoiseshell	wild cat
Kingdom same	Animalia (Animals)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Arthropoda (Arthropods)	Chordata (Chordates)
Class	Insecta (Insects)	Mammalia (Mammals)
Order	Lepidoptera (Butterflies & Moths)	Carnivora (Carnivorans)
Family	Nymphalidae (Brush-footed Butterflies)	Felidae (Cats)
Genus	Aglais	Felis (Small Cats)
Species	Aglais urticae	Felis silvestris

Evolutionary Relationship

small tortoiseshell and wild cat share a common ancestor at the Kingdom level: Animalia. (Animals)

Conservation Status

small tortoiseshell

NT — Near Threatened

wild cat

CR — Critically Endangered

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	small tortoiseshell	wild cat
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.

wild cat

Habitat

Found across multiple habitat types including tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests, and montane grasslands and shrublands, among 13 distinct biome types spanning the Afrotropic and Neotropic and Palearctic realms. Populations are also found in montane and highland environments at higher elevations.

Range

Widely distributed across Africa (Madagascar), Asia (Cyprus, Saudi Arabia), Europe (7 countries), North America (Costa Rica, Cuba, Mexico), and South America (Peru). Currently classified as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, this species faces significant conservation challenges across its range.

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.

wild cat

wild cat (Felis silvestris) is classified as Critically Endangered (CR) on the IUCN Red List. Facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild due to severe population decline and habitat loss.

Shared Countries

Both species can be found in 7 countries:

🇧🇪 Belgium 🇫🇷 France 🇮🇹 Italy 🇵🇹 Portugal 🇷🇺 Russia 🇪🇸 Spain 🇺🇦 Ukraine