Scythropia crataegella from the safety of a silken web they produce together; young larvae are leaf miners. The mainstay food is leaves of "Crataegus" (hawthorn), hence the species' name. But they have also been recorded from other Amygdaloideae, e.g. blackthorn ("Prunus spinosa") and other "Prunus" species, "Cotoneaster", as well as "Malus sylvestris" and "Pyrus" (pear). Scythropia crataegella Scythropia crataegella, the hawthorn moth, is a species of moth in the family Plutellidae from western Eurasia. It is usually placed in a small subfamily Scythropiinae, which is sometimes included in the Yponomeutinae of the Yponomeutidae. Described as "Phalaena crataegella" by Linnaeus in 1767, it
Prunus avium parent species of "Prunus cerasus" (sour cherry), by way of ancient crosses between it and "Prunus fruticosa" (dwarf cherry) in the areas where the two species overlap. All three species can breed with one another. "Prunus cerasus" is now a species in its own right, having developed beyond a hybrid and stabilised. Pliny distinguishes between "Prunus", the plum fruit, and "Cerasus", the cherry fruit. Already in Pliny quite a number of cultivars are cited, some possibly species or varieties, Aproniana, Lutatia, Caeciliana, and so on. Pliny grades them by flavour, including dulcis ("sweet") and acer ("sharp"). and goes so far