small tortoiseshell vs Wood Snipefly

Aglais urticae compared with Rhagio annulatus

Key Differences

• small tortoiseshell is Near Threatened while Wood Snipefly is Least Concern.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	small tortoiseshell	Wood Snipefly
Kingdom same	Animalia (Animals)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum same	Arthropoda (Arthropods)	Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class same	Insecta (Insects)	Insecta (Insects)
Order	Lepidoptera (Butterflies & Moths)	Diptera (Diptera)
Family	Nymphalidae (Brush-footed Butterflies)	Rhagionidae
Genus	Aglais	Rhagio
Species	Aglais urticae	Rhagio annulatus

Evolutionary Relationship

small tortoiseshell and Wood Snipefly share a common ancestor at the Class level: Insecta. (Insects)

Conservation Status

small tortoiseshell

NT — Near Threatened

Wood Snipefly

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	small tortoiseshell	Wood Snipefly
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.

Wood Snipefly

Habitat

Typically found in virtually all terrestrial and freshwater habitats.

Range

Distributed across Denmark, Norway, and Sweden.

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 3 countries:

🇩🇰 Denmark 🇳🇴 Norway 🇸🇪 Sweden