Small tortoiseshell butterfly

Gardens, parks, meadows, woodland edges, and urban areas across Eurasia. It often seeks sunny, sheltered surfaces.

Adults drink nectar from flowers and sometimes tree sap or rotting fruit. Caterpillars feed mainly on stinging nettles (Urtica species).

Adults bask with wings partly open, then rapidly close them when disturbed, revealing cryptic undersides. It overwinters as an adult and produces one or more generations annually.

Harmless to people and a valuable pollinator. Its caterpillars can temporarily defoliate nettles but generally cause little garden damage.