Systematics

There are no subspecies of Calochaetes coccineus; it is monotypic (Isler and Isler 1987, Clements et al. 2014, Dickinson and Christidis 2014). A formal comparison of Vermilion Tanagers found in Peru, collected by Carriker at Eneñas, to specimens from Ecuador and Colombia at the American Museum of Natural History found no differences in size and color (Traylor 1958, Graves 1985).

Vermilion Tanager was described as Euchaetes coccineus by P.L. Sclater (1858) with the type locality as the River Napo in Ecuador. Euchetes was found to be a junior synonym of a genus of moth, and this species was subsequently moved to Calochaetes (Paynter and Storer 1970). Vermilion Tanager is monotypic in the genus, and there are no described subspecies (Dickinson and Christidis 2014). Calochaetes is a member of the family Thraupidae (tanagers) and the subfamily Thraupinae (core tanagers). Calochaetes previously was placed near Piranga and Ramphocelus because of plumage coloration (Storer 1970, Isler and Isler 1987), but molecular evidence has consistently recovered it in a clade of tanagers largely restricted to the northern Andes Mountains (Burns and Naoki 2004, Klicka et al. 2007, Sedano and Burns 2010, Burns et al. 2014). Calochaetes is placed within a larger clade that includes the genera Iridosornis, Dubusia, Buthraupis, Chlorornis, Anisognathus, and Pipraeidea (Klicka et al. 2007, Sedano and Burns 2010, Burns et al. 2014). These genera contain species largely endemic to the northern Andes Mountains, suggesting that these species radiated in situ (Sedano and Burns 2010). Within this clade, the sister taxon to the Calochaetes is the genus Iridosornis (Burns et al. 2014).