House Swift

SCI Name:  Apus nipalensis
Protonym:  Cypselus Nipalensis J.Asiat.Soc.Bengal 5(1836) p.780
Taxonomy:  Caprimulgiformes / Apodidae / Apus
Taxonomy Code:  houswi1
Type Locality:  Central region of Nepal.
Author:  Hodgson
Publish Year:  1837
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

APUS
(Apodidae; Ϯ Common Swift A. apus) Specific name Hirundo apus Linnaeus, 1758; "APVS. BELLON. Alæ arcuatæ, ultra caudam sedentis extensæ. Nares ellipticæ, duplicatura in exteriore cantho instructæ. Mandibula utraque apice deflexa. Digiti quatuor, omnes anticis.  HIRVNDO Apus. LINN." (Scopoli 1777); “Three generic names have been used at various times for the Swifts. Apus Scopoli  ...  is preoccupied by Apos, introduced by the same author on p. 404 for a genus of Crustaceans. As these names are identical except for the interchange of “o” and “u,” the earlier one only is valid. The second is Micropus Meyer & Wolf [1810]  ...  This has been rejected by Sharpe (Hand-List, ii. 1900, p. 95), as the same name was applied to a genus of plants by Linnaeus, but under the present rules this no longer renders a name invalid for zoology, and Micropus should therefore be used. The third name, Cypselus Illiger, 1811, was used in the 1^st edition of the List and by most of the earlier authors” (BOU 1915); "Apus Scopoli, Intr. Hist. Nat., 1777, p. 483. Type, by tautonymy, Hirundo apus Linné.¹   ...   ¹ Not preoccupied by Apos Scopoli, 1777, Crustacea.  Replaces Cypselus Illiger, 1811, of Sharpe's Hand-list and Micropus Meyer and Wolf, 1810, of many recent authors." (Peters, 1940, IV, p. 244).   
Synon. Apodium, Brachypus, Brevipes, Caffrapus, Colletoptera, Cypselus, Drepanis, Epicypselus, Micropus, Tetragonopyga.

apus
● L. apus, apodis  swift, type of swallow said to have no feet  < Gr. απους apous, αποδος apodos  bird of the swallow kind  < negative prefix α- a- ; πους pous, ποδος podos  foot; "101. HIRUNDO.  ...  Apus.  5. H. nigricans, gula alba, digitis omnibus quatuor anticis.  Hirundo tota nigra, gula albicante. Fn. svec. 246.  Hirundo Apus. Bell. av. 100. a. Gesn. av. 166. Aldr. orn. l. 17. c. 10. Jonst. av. 119. t. 42. Will. orn. 156. t. 39. Raj. av. 72. n. 4. Alb. av. 2. p. 51. t. 55. Frisch. av. 3. t. 17. f. 1.  Habitat in Europæ altis.  In terram decidens non evolat; capitur hamo Cicadæ inserto. Bell. 16." (Linnaeus 1758) (Apus).
● Gr. απους apous, αποδος apodos  bird of the swallow kind; ex “Becque Fleur” of Levaillant 1803, pl. 134 (syn. Anthoscopus minutus).

nipalense / nipalensis
Nepal or, formerly, Nipal or Nepaul. According to legend Nepal means "the place protected by the Hindu sage Ne."

SUBSPECIES

House Swift (nipalensis)
SCI Name: Apus nipalensis nipalensis
nipalense / nipalensis
Nepal or, formerly, Nipal or Nepaul. According to legend Nepal means "the place protected by the Hindu sage Ne."

House Swift (subfurcatus)
SCI Name: Apus nipalensis subfurcatus
subfurcatus
L. sub  somewhat, slightly; Med. L. furcatus  forked  < L. furca  fork.

House Swift (furcatus)
SCI Name: Apus nipalensis furcatus
furcatum / furcatus
Med. L. furcatus  forked  < L. furca  two-pronged fork  < ferre  to tend.
● ex “Mouette à queue fourchue” of Néboux, 1840 (Creagrus).
● ex “Icterus cauda bifida” of Brisson 1760, and “Fork-tailed Oriole” of Latham 1782 (?Dicrurus sp.).
● ex “Swallow-tail’d Hawk” of Catesby 1731 (syn. Elanoides forficatus).
● ex “Fork-tail Petrel” of Pennant 1785, and Latham 1785 (Hydrobates).

House Swift (kuntzi)
SCI Name: Apus nipalensis kuntzi
kuntzi
Capt. Robert E. Kuntz (1916-2003) US Navy physician, parasitologist, entomologist, collector (subsp. Apus nipalensis).