The generic name, Plectrodera, derives from the Greek πληκτρον, plectron, “spear-point”, in combination with the Greek δειρη, dera or deira, “neck, throat, collar”, which together refer to the prominent spines on the lateral surfaces of its neck. The specific name, scalator, is derived from the Latin scalas, “a ladder, stairs, staircase” in combination with the Greek suffix τορ, tor, which–along with a number of similar suffixes–indicate an agent or doer, but is often used for animals that bore in wood and other substrates; the combination, scalator, is a reference to the peculiar behavior of this beetle, both in the way its larvae bore into the wood of cottonwood trees, and in the way the mature females deposit their eggs. [...]