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 fruticosa the pun are "fructus" or "frux", from "fruor", "enjoy" - a fruit is a result enjoyed - and "frutex", "shrub", adjective "fruticosus", "bushy", from a totally different root. "Prunus" is a grammatical feminine, so "Prunus fruticosa" agrees in gender. However, Pallas says "Haec mihi tantum fructibus suis innotuit, qui distinctam itidem speciem indicare videntur", "It came to my attention at last because of its fruit, which repeatedly seemed to indicate a distinct species." The fruit seemed "fere Pruni forma", "nearly in the form of "Prunus"", especially because "praedita oblongo nucleo", "furnished with an oblong seed." So, Pallas moved it from