| Merops | |
|---|---|
 European Bee-eater (Merops apiaster) | |
| Scientific Classification | |
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Class | Aves |
| Order | Coraciiformes |
| Family | Meropidae |
| Genus | Merops |
Merops is a genus of bee-eaters in the Meropidae family. The members of this Old World family are characterised by richly coloured plumage, slender bodies and usually elongated central tail feathers. They predominantly eat insects, especially bees, wasps and hornets, which are caught in the air.
All bee-eaters are in the genus Merops and subfamily Meropinae except for three Asiatic bearded bee-eaters in the subfamily Nyctyornithinae (in genera Nyctyornis and Meropogon).
Species[]
It contains the following species:
European Bee-eater (Linnaeus, 1758) (Merops apiaster) White-throated Bee-eater (Vieillot, 1817) (Merops albicollis) Böhm's Bee-eater (Reichenow, 1882) (Merops boehmi) Black-headed Bee-eater (Cassin, 1859) (Merops breweri) Red-throated Bee-eater (Vieillot, 1817) (Merops bullocki) White-fronted Bee-eater (Smith, 1834) (Merops bullockoides) Black Bee-eater (Shaw, 1798) (Merops gularis) Swallow-tailed Bee-eater (Lichtenstein, 1793) (Merops hirundinaeus) Chestnut-headed Bee-eater (Vieillot, 1817) (Merops leschenaulti) Rosy Bee-eater (Shaw, 1806) (Merops malimbicus) Blue-moustached Bee-eater (Cabanis, 1889) (Merops mentalis) Blue-headed Bee-eater (Cassin, 1857) (Merops muelleri) Southern Carmine Bee-eater (Des Murs & Pucheran, 1846) (Merops nubicoides) Northern Carmine Bee-eater (Gmelin, 1788) (Merops nubicus) Cinnamon-chested Bee-eater (Sharpe, 1892) (Merops oreobates) Green Bee-eater (Latham, 1801) (Merops orientalis) Rainbow Bee-eater (Latham, 1801) (Merops ornatus) Blue-cheeked Bee-eater (Pallas, 1773) (Merops persicus) Blue-tailed Bee-eater (Linnaeus, 1766) (Merops phillipinus) Little Bee-eater (Statius Muller, 1776) (Merops pusillus) Somali Bee-eater (Oustalet, 1882) (Merops revoilii) Olive Bee-eater (Linnaeus, 1766) (Merops superciliosus) Blue-breasted Bee-eater (Vieillot, 1817) (Merops variegatus) Blue-throated Bee-eater (Linnaeus, 1758) (Merops viridis)