What is "merops"

MEROPS is an on-line database for peptidases (also known as proteases) and their inhibitors. The classification scheme for peptidases was published by Rawlings & Barrett in 1993, and that for protein inhibitors by Rawlings et al. in 2004.

Merops is a large genus of bee-eaters, a group of near passerine birds in the family Meropidae. 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). The genus name Merops is Ancient Greek for "bee-eater".

The species in Merops are:

• Little bee-eater, Merops pusillus
• Blue-cheeked bee-eater, Merops persicus
• Green bee-eater, Merops orientalis
• White-throated bee-eater, Merops albicollis
• Swallow-tailed bee-eater, Merops hirundinaeus
• Blue-tailed bee-eater, Merops phillipinus
• Black bee-eater, Merops gularis
• Blue-headed bee-eater, Merops muelleri
• Blue-moustached bee-eater, Merops mentalis
• Red-throated bee-eater, Merops bullocki
• White-fronted bee-eater, Merops bullockoides
• Blue-breasted bee-eater, Merops variegatus
• Cinnamon-chested bee-eater, Merops oreobates
• Black-headed bee-eater, Merops breweri
• Somali bee-eater, Merops revoilii
• Böhm's bee-eater, Merops boehmi
• Blue-throated bee-eater, Merops viridis
• Olive bee-eater, Merops superciliosus
• Rainbow bee-eater, Merops ornatus
• European bee-eater, Merops apiaster
• Chestnut-headed bee-eater, Merops leschenaulti
• Rosy bee-eater, Merops malimbicus
• Northern carmine bee-eater, Merops nubicus
• Southern carmine bee-eater, Merops nubicoides

The name Merops refers to several figures from Greek mythology:

• Merops, king of Ethiopia, husband of Clymene and adoptive father of Phaethon, his wife's son by Helios.
• Merops, a resident of Miletus, husband of another Clymene and father of Pandareus.
• Merops, king of Percote, father of two sons ( Amphius and Adrastus) killed by Diomedes in the Trojan War, and of two daughters, Cleite, wife of Cyzicus, and Arisbe, the first wife of Priam. He had prophetic abilities and foresaw the deaths of his sons, but they ignored his warnings.
• Merops, a son of Triopas, or an autochthon and a king of Cos (the island was thought to have been named after his daughter). He was married to the nymph Ethemea (or, more correctly, Echemeia), who was shot by Artemis for having ceased to worship the goddess. As Merops was about to commit suicide over his wife's death, Hera took pity on the grieving widower and placed him among the stars in the shape of an eagle (the constellation Aquila). Merops was the father of Eumelus and through him grandfather of Agron, Byssa and Meropis, all of whom were notorious for their impiety. Clytie, the wife of Eurypylus of Cos, and Titanis, who was changed by Artemis into a deer because of her beauty, were given as the daughters of Merops.
• Merops, king of Anthemousia, who fought against Sithon of Thrace for the hand of the latter's daughter Pallene and was killed.
• Merops, father of Epione, the wife of Asclepius.
• Merops, son of Hyas, who was the first to make people reassemble in settlements after the great deluge.
• Merops, a great-grandson of Temenus in the following genealogy of the Heracleidae: Heracles - Hyllus - Cleodaeus - Aristomachus - Temenus - Cissius - Thestius - Merops - Aristodamis - Pheidon - Caranus.