small tortoiseshell vs Yellow Shadow Ant

Aglais urticae compared with Lasius umbratus

Key Differences

• small tortoiseshell is Near Threatened while Yellow Shadow Ant is Least Concern.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	small tortoiseshell	Yellow Shadow Ant
Kingdom same	Animalia (Animals)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum same	Arthropoda (Arthropods)	Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class same	Insecta (Insects)	Insecta (Insects)
Order	Lepidoptera (Butterflies & Moths)	Hymenoptera (Ants, Bees & Wasps)
Family	Nymphalidae (Brush-footed Butterflies)	Formicidae
Genus	Aglais	Lasius
Species	Aglais urticae	Lasius umbratus

Evolutionary Relationship

small tortoiseshell and Yellow Shadow Ant share a common ancestor at the Class level: Insecta. (Insects)

Conservation Status

small tortoiseshell

NT — Near Threatened

Yellow Shadow Ant

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	small tortoiseshell	Yellow Shadow Ant
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.

Yellow Shadow Ant

Habitat

Typically found in virtually all terrestrial and freshwater habitats.

Range

Distributed across Belgium, Denmark, Luxembourg, 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 5 countries:

🇧🇪 Belgium 🇩🇰 Denmark 🇱🇺 Luxembourg 🇳🇴 Norway 🇸🇪 Sweden