Grey Puffball vs small tortoiseshell

Bovista plumbea compared with Aglais urticae

Key Differences

• Grey Puffball is Least Concern while small tortoiseshell is Near Threatened.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Grey Puffball	small tortoiseshell
Kingdom	Fungi (mantar)	Animalia (hayvan)
Phylum	Basidiomycota (Bazitli mantarlar)	Arthropoda (Eklem bacaklılar)
Class	Agaricomycetes (Mushrooms)	Insecta (böcek)
Order	Agaricales (Lamelli mantarlar)	Lepidoptera (Pul kanatlılar)
Family	Lycoperdaceae	Nymphalidae (Brush-footed Butterflies)
Genus	Bovista	Aglais
Species	Bovista plumbea	Aglais urticae

Conservation Status

Grey Puffball

LC — Least Concern

small tortoiseshell

NT — Near Threatened

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Grey Puffball	small tortoiseshell
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Grey Puffball

Habitat

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

Range

Widely distributed across Asia (Taiwan), Europe (5 countries), North America (United States), and South America (Brazil).

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.

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