Blue-breasted Bee-eater

SCI Name:  Merops variegatus
Protonym:  Merops variegatus Nouv.Dict.Hist.Nat. 14 p.25
Taxonomy:  Coraciiformes / Meropidae / Merops
Taxonomy Code:  bbbeat2
Type Locality:  Malimbe, Portuguese Congo.
Author:  Vieillot
Publish Year:  1817
IUCN Status:  

DEFINITIONS

MEROPS
(Meropidae; Ϯ European Bee-eater M. apiaster) L. merops, meropis  bee-eater  < Gr. μεροψ merops  bee-eater; "57. MEROPS.  Rostrum curvatum, compressum, carinatum.  Lingua apice laciniata.  Digiti infimo articulo coadunati: postico distincto." (Linnaeus 1758); "Merops Linné, Syst. Nat., ed. 10, 1, 1758, p. 117. Type, by tautonymy, Merops apiaster Linné (Merops, prebinomial specific name in synonymy)." (Peters 1945, V, 233). Linnaeus's Merops comprised four species (M. Apiaster, M. viridis, M. cinereus, M. cafer).
Synon. Aerops, Apiaster, Archimerops, Blepharomerops, Bombylonax, Coccolarynx, Cosmaerops, Dicreadium, Dicrocercus, Melittias, Melittophagus, Melittophas, Melittotheres, Meropiscus, Micromerops, Patricus, Phlothrus, Spheconax, Sphecophobus, Tachymerops, Tephraerops, Urica.

variegatum / variegatus
L. variegatus  variegated  < variare  to variegate  < varius  various, diverse.
● ex “Actenoïde variée” of Hombron & Jacquinot 1846 (syn. Actenoides hombroni).
● ex “Variegated Sandpiper” of Latham 1785 (syn. Aphriza virgata).
● ex “Grive 2da” of Fermin 1769, and “Variegated Thrush” of Latham 1783 (syn. Campylorhynchus turdinus).
● ex “Tinamou varié de Cayenne” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 828, “Tinamou varié” of de Buffon 1770-1783, and Bajon 1777, and “Variegated Tinamou” of Latham 1783 (Crypturellus).
● ex “Coucou tacheté de l’île de Panay” of Sonnerat 1776 (syn. Eudynamys scolopaceus mindanensis).
● ex “Grand Indicateur, femelle” of Levaillant 1806 (Indicator).
● ex “Garza varia” of de Azara 1802-1805, no. 361 (syn. Ixobrychus involucris).
● ex “Mésange Grisette” of Levaillant 1803, pl. 138 (syn. Melaniparus cinerascens).
● ex “Guêpier à collier gros-bleu” or “Guêpier Sonnini” of Levaillant 1807 (Merops).
● ex “Courly tacheté de l’isle de Luçon” of Sonnerat 1776 (subsp. Numenius phaeopus).
● ex “Râle tacheté de Cayenne” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 775, and “Variegated Rail” of Latham 1785 (syn. Pardirallus maculatus).
● ex “Averano” of de Buffon 1770-1783 (syn. Procnias averano).
● “It has been pointed out to me by Mr. T. Iredale that the name Tetrao variegatus Burchell ...[1824] is preoccupied by Tetrao variegatus Gmelin ...[1789], bestowed on the Variegated Tinamou of Latham, and now known as Crypturus variegatus. As there appears to be no synonym for this distinct species of Sandgrouse, I propose to rename it after the discoverer” (W. Sclater 1922) (syn. Pterocles burchelli).

SUBSPECIES

Blue-breasted Bee-eater (Blue-breasted)
SCI Name: Merops variegatus [variegatus Group]
MEROPS
(Meropidae; Ϯ European Bee-eater M. apiaster) L. merops, meropis  bee-eater  < Gr. μεροψ merops  bee-eater; "57. MEROPS.  Rostrum curvatum, compressum, carinatum.  Lingua apice laciniata.  Digiti infimo articulo coadunati: postico distincto." (Linnaeus 1758); "Merops Linné, Syst. Nat., ed. 10, 1, 1758, p. 117. Type, by tautonymy, Merops apiaster Linné (Merops, prebinomial specific name in synonymy)." (Peters 1945, V, 233). Linnaeus's Merops comprised four species (M. Apiaster, M. viridis, M. cinereus, M. cafer).
Synon. Aerops, Apiaster, Archimerops, Blepharomerops, Bombylonax, Coccolarynx, Cosmaerops, Dicreadium, Dicrocercus, Melittias, Melittophagus, Melittophas, Melittotheres, Meropiscus, Micromerops, Patricus, Phlothrus, Spheconax, Sphecophobus, Tachymerops, Tephraerops, Urica.

Blue-breasted Bee-eater (Ethiopian)
SCI Name: Merops variegatus lafresnayii
lafresnayana / lafresnayanus / lafresnayei / lafresnayi / lafresnayii
Noël Frédéric Armand Baron André de La Fresnaye (1783-1861) French ornithologist, collector (Aegithina, subsp. Campylorhamphus trochilirostris, syn. Catamenia analis analoides, syn. Centropus toulou, subsp. Dendrocincla fuliginosa, subsp. Dendropicos fuscescens, Diglossa, ‡Gallirallus, syn. Knipolegus nigerrimus, Lafresnaya, subsp. Lepidocolaptes lacrymiger, Merops, syn. Myrmotherula axillaris, Picumnus, syn. Sporophila collaris melanocephala, syn. Strophocincla cachinnans, syn. Xenopirostris xenopirostris).