(Linnaeus, 1758)

Small Tortoiseshell

Description:
The Small Tortoiseshell is a common and welcome guest in parks and gardens, and is sometimes very abundant. It occurs in low numbers in nearly all habitats. Its only food plant is Common Nettle (Urtica dioica). The food plants are often growing on nutrient-rich, disturbed ground in the sun, such as in rough vegetation at the edges of meadows treated with manure or fertilizer.
The eggs are laid in large batches on the underside of the nettle leaves. The caterpillars are gregarious, living in flimsy webs until they go their separate ways in the last larval instar. The caterpillar of the Small Tortoiseshell is black with two shiny yellow lines along the side of its back, and bristly with yellowy-green spines. It forms its chrysalis on the food plants. The Small Tortoiseshell hibernates as a butterfly, and can often be found in the cold months hiding in houses or sheds. It is one of the first butterflies to be seen in the spring.

Habitat:
Generalist

Similar species:
Polygonia c-album
Nymphalis polychloros
Nymphalis xanthomelas
Nymphalis vaualbum