Jamaican Woodpecker

SCI Name:  Melanerpes radiolatus
Protonym:  Picus radiolatus Syst.Av. Picus sp.39
Taxonomy:  Piciformes / Picidae / Melanerpes
Taxonomy Code:  jamwoo1
Type Locality:  Jamaica.
Author:  Wagler
Publish Year:  1827
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

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, 157).
Var. Melanoherpes, Malanerpes.
Synon. Asyndesmus, Balanosphyra, Cactocraugus, Centurus, Chryserpes, Colombpicus, Leuconerpes, Leucopicus, Linneopicus, Melampicos, Meropicus, Phymatoblepharus, Trichopicus, Trichopipo, Tripsurus, Zebrapicus.

radiolata / radiolatus
Mod. L. radiolatus  barred  < L. radiolus  small beam  < dim. radius  rod, spoke, stake.
● ex “Woodpecker of Jamaica” of Edwards 1743-1751, “Picus varius jamaicensis” of Brisson 1760, “Pic varié de la Jamaïque” of de Buffon 1770-1783, and “Carolina Woodpecker, var. A” of Latham 1782 (Melanerpes).
● ex “Cancrophagus philippensis” of Brisson 1760, and “Crabier des Philippines” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 898 (syn. Zebrilus undulatus).