Fluturat e Shqipërisë
Butterflies of Albania

Sylvain Cuvelier =
Anila Paparisto =

Last update: 05.viii.2023

Aglais urticae / Small Tortoiseshell
Flutura e hithrave
Nymphalidae - Nymphalinae

Aglais urticae (Linnaeus, 1758). TL: Sweden.

1a. Aglais urticae, distribution map. Historical data ; Additional data from the 2018 update ; New observations since the 2018 update.
1b. Aglais urticae upperside. SRB (© Sylvain Cuvelier)
1c. Aglais urticae upperside. Cajupi Plain, Albania (© Lulëzim Shuka)
1d. Aglais urticae underside. Gjallice, Albania (© Lulëzim Shuka)
1e. Aglais urticae caterpillar. Greece (© Sylvain Cuvelier)
1f. Aglais urticae, nest of caterpillars on Urtica. France (© Sylvain Cuvelier)

Description
♂♂
Medium size butterfly. Fw: 22-25 mm.
Ups: orange-red with black and yellow markings, blue submarginal markings on fw and hw.
Upf: two small black postdiscal spots in s2 and s3, white apical spot.
Uph: large black basal area.
Uns: blue, shining submarginal markings on fw and hw.
Unf: ocher-brown gc, darker basal area and brownish apex.
Unh: dark brown-black gc, paler postdiscal area.
♀♀
Similar.

Similar species

Nymphalis polychloros Size: larger. Upf: black dot in s1b. Upf: dusted (basal) orange-brown gc. Uph: dusted orange-brown gc. Uph: pale orange area, internal of sm band. Unf: brown gc. Legs: black. Nymphalis xanthomelas Size: larger. Upf: black dot in s1b. Upf: orange-brown gc. Uph: orange-brown gc. Uph: diffuse black border, internal of sm band. Unf: brown gc. Legs: pale yellowish-brown.

Life cycle
Adults: overwintering, on the wing from early spring to May, single up to three generations depending on altitude, from June to October.
Egg: 6-13 days.
Caterpillar: 13-29 days in a silk web.
Pupa: 8-18 days.

Habitat
Aglais urticae inhabits all kind of open flowery places with nettles from lowland up to 2600 m a.s.l.
Spatial requirement great, population density can be high, migrating.

Foodplants
Caterpillars feed mainly on Urtica dioica, also mentioned are U. urens and Humulus lupulus.
Butterflies feed on all kind of flowers.

Distribution
Albania: widespread in the mountains.
Balkan: AL - BG - BIH - GR - HR - NMK - MNE - RKS - RO - SLO - SRB
Europe: IB - IT - ALP - BAL - NWE - UK - SCA - EEU
Asia Minor, Near East, Transcaucasia, Caucasus and further east.

Conservation status
Aglais urticae is not endangered.
Albanian Red List: NE.
IUCN Red List, category at the Mediterranean level: LC.

Useful links
Bink 2015
Pyrgus.de
Lepiforum
Euroleps

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