The Key to Scientific Names
- MELANERPES
(Picidae; Ϯ Red-headed Woodpecker M. erythrocephalus) Gr. μελας melas, μελανος melanos black; ἑρπης herpēs creeper < ἑρπω herpō to crawl; "1. MELANERPES ERYTHROCEPHALUS. (Sw.) Red-headed Woodpecker. GENUS, Melanerpes*, SWAINS. Sub-genus, (Typical form) SWAINS. ... This Woodpecker, so well known in the United States for the havoc it commits in the orchards, ranges in summer from the northern shores of Lake Huron to the Gulf of Mexico. ... *Th. μελας, niger, et ερπο, repo" (Swainson 1832); "Melanerpes Swainson, Fauna Bor.-Am., 2, 1831 (1832), p. 316. Type, by monotypy, Picus erythrocephalus Linné." (Peters, 1948, VI, p. 157).
Var. Melanoherpes, Malanerpes.
Synon. Asyndesmus, Balanosphyra, Cactocraugus, Centurus, Chryserpes, Colombpicus, Leuconerpes, Leucopicus, Linneopicus, Melampicos, Meropicus, Phymatoblepharus, Trichopicus, Trichopipo, Tripsurus, Zebrapicus.
