Things With Wings
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Field Guide
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Small Tortoiseshell
Aglais urticae
2 photos
·2 photographers
·Common · 1 ptsCommon nettle feeder with bright orange-and-black wings.
2 community photos of Small Tortoiseshell from 2 photographers on Things With Wings. Top-rated shots often use around 1/369ss shutter, 9mm.
Species Profile
Amber List (species of conservation concern due to long-term decline, though still relatively common)
- Lifespan
- 10–11 months in the wild, with adults overwintering and living into the following spring
- Size & Weight
- Wingspan 32–35 mm
- Habitat
- Gardens, parks, hedgerows, and rough ground with nettles; found in both urban and rural areas across the UK.
- UK Distribution
- Widespread and common throughout mainland Britain and Ireland; resident year-round, with populations supplemented by migratory individuals from continental Europe in autumn.
- Diet
- Adults feed on flower nectar, particularly teasel, buddleia, and lavender; also drink from rotting fruit, tree sap, and muddy ground. Caterpillars feed exclusively on common nettles (Urtica dioica).
- Predators
- Birds (particularly blue tits and great tits), spiders, and small mammals; parasitic flies and wasps attack caterpillars.
- Mating Season
- April to September, with peak activity in May and June
- Breeding
- Females lay eggs in clusters of 60–150 on nettle leaves; caterpillars are gregarious and heavily spined; typically two broods per year, occasionally three in southern England.
- Behaviour
- Adults are highly territorial and often return to the same basking and feeding spots. They overwinter in sheltered locations such as hollow trees, sheds, and buildings, emerging on warm winter days. Known for their rapid, jerky flight.
- •The Small Tortoiseshell has declined by approximately 70% since the 1990s, making it a key conservation indicator species.
- •Adults can live unusually long for butterflies due to their overwintering period, allowing them to survive 10–11 months.
- •Caterpillars are covered in branched spines and feed gregariously, stripping nettles bare and creating distinctive defoliation patterns.
- •The butterfly's colourful wings (orange-red with black and blue patches) provide excellent camouflage against dead leaves when at rest.
- •Small Tortoiseshells are frequent visitors to gardens and are among the first butterflies to emerge in spring, sometimes on sunny days in February.
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Camera Settings (top photos)
Shutter
1/369ss
ISO Range
32
Aperture
f/f/2.8
Focal Length
9mm
