---
title: "Rusałka drzewoszek"
description: "Nymphalis xanthomelas — Owady i pająki. Nymphalis xanthomelas, the scarce tortoiseshell, is a species of nymphalid butterfly found in eastern Europe and Asia."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/pl/animal/scarce-tortoiseshell
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Rusałka drzewoszek

> Nymphalis xanthomelas — Owady i pająki. Nymphalis xanthomelas, the scarce tortoiseshell, is a species of nymphalid butterfly found in eastern Europe and Asia.

- Scientific name: *Nymphalis xanthomelas*
- Category: `insects` (Owady i pająki)
- Habitats: unknown
- iNaturalist observations: 8906
- Wikidata: [Q171811](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q171811)
- iNaturalist taxon: [321054](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/321054)

## Names

- en: Scarce Tortoiseshell
- de: Östlicher Großer Fuchs
- fr: Vanesse du saule
- nl: Oostelijke vos
- pl: Rusałka drzewoszek

## Countries with the most observations

RU (7127), UA (218), JP (214), LT (158), TW (142), KZ (140), FI (130), EE (85), PL (64), BY (62), LV (51), DE (35)

## Summary

Nymphalis xanthomelas, the scarce tortoiseshell, is a species of nymphalid butterfly found in eastern Europe and Asia. This butterfly is also referred as yellow-legged tortoiseshell or large tortoiseshell (however, in Europe, "large tortoiseshell" is usually reserved for Nymphalis polychloros).

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nymphalis_xanthomelas

## Photo

![Rusałka drzewoszek](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/scarce-tortoiseshell/medium.jpg)

Photo: Harukano · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/264849679

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/scarce-tortoiseshell?lang=pl` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).