Small Tortoiseshell
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Nymphalidae |
| Genus: | Aglais |
| Species: | A. urticae |
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Aglais urticae (Linnaeus, 1758) |
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The small tortoiseshell (Aglais urticae) is a colourful Eurasian butterfly in the family Nymphalidae.
It is a medium-sized butterfly that is mainly reddish orange, with black and yellow markings on the forewings as well as a ring of blue spots around the edge of the wings. It has a wingspan ranging from 4.5-6.2 cm.
The small tortoiseshell is the national butterfly of Denmark.
It is found throughout temperate Europe, Asia Minor, Central Asia, Siberia, China, Mongolia, Korea and Japan, wherever common nettle which their larvae feed on is found. There are a few records from New York City which, however, are believed to be of introduced insects.
The Corsican small tortoiseshell (Aglais ichnusa) looks very similar; whether it is a subspecies or a distinct species is yet to be determined. Nymphalis xanthomelas and Nymphalis l-album are also similar in appearance.
Once among the most common butterflies in Europe and temperate Asia, this butterfly is in very rapid decline, at least in Western Europe. This decline cannot be explained by the decline of its host plant, because the nettle is widespread and even enjoys the general eutrophication of the environment. The chrysalis is sometimes eaten by wasps, but these are also in strong regression. The effect of other phenomena are still poorly understood (environmental degradation, air pollution, contamination by pesticides). Scientific evidence shows that the summer drought is a cause of declining populations, because larvae grow normally on drenched leaves (but hatchlings were even rarer the wet summers of 2007 and 2008). However, before 2000, according to data from an English butterfly monitoring program, there was a good correlation between reproductive success, the abundance of populations of this species and the host plant moisture stress. From 1976 to 1995, the butterfly had more success in summers that were cool and wet at the beginning of summer than when it was hot and dry. This butterfly may then be sensitive to global warming.
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Wikipedia