I was just thinking about it…cantaloupe. Canta is song in Spanish, and *lupe *is wolf. I went to www.m-w.com to look at the etymology and it says it’s from an Italian city of the same name. I imagine that the name comes from Italian then. So does our beloved melon literally mean “wolf song?”
Not really. They are named for the town of Cantalupo, near Rome. The town however may have been named after romantic canines in the nearby hills.
How cute. 
You learn something new every day, especially when you’re a member of the SDMB. Read the first paragraph below the first picture.
I want to point out that the singing wolf in the coat of arms on the website linked to by Washoe doesn’t necessarily mean that the name of the town came from singing wolves. It certainly is possible, probable perhaps, but it coud also be that the coat of arms was inspired by the name, which came from somewhere else entirely.
So, Little Latin Lupe Lou was about wolves? :eek:
Around these parts they are also known as Mussmelon. I wonder about the etymology of that?
In fact, if you read further down, it states that the “Can” in Cantalupo is probably an ancient word for river. Can - Talupo. Maybe “river of the wolves” or somesuch.
It’s always been muskmelon around here, because they have a musky smell.
No, no, no. It’s about this girl, Lupe. And she had . . . well she had these melons . . .
DD No pun intended
Like canaries are named after a place named for dogs. 
And here they’re known as rockmelons.
There was a family of minor nobility in Medieval England with a name of Cantiloupe, which is not definitively but quite likely connected to the Italian city, the melon, and the melodic wolves.
With regard to muskmelons, the usage in this area ever since I was a child has always been that while used loosely as synonyms, technically cantaloupes have a fairly smooth, unridged skin, while muskmelon skins have a reticulate pattern. I gather that they are varietals of the same species.
Melons, like citrus cross-pollinate all to heck. As a result there are a large number of regional melon, just as there are a large number of regional citrus. This of course yields a huge number of names.
Musk melons are all those netted melons. The origin of the name? I have no idea. They are also sometimes called Nutmeg melons. Oddly in the US the name Cantaloupe is applied to most melons (save perhaps the Winter melons) indiscriminately.
Cantaloupe also applies to couples whose plans to run away and get married are thwarted by car trouble.
Or the 6th grade riddle:
Q. Why do muskmelons always have church weddings?
A. Because they cantaloupe!
where does this term “muskmelon” come from? I’ve never heard them called anything but cantaloupes.
Cantaloupe is only used to refer to melons with orange flesh. We also have honeydew melons (similar to cantaloupe, but with green flesh) and watermelons (completely different, and might not even be botanically considered melons, for all I know), plus I’m sure a few others, but cantaloupes are definitely always orange here.
My Chambers, Dictionary of Etymology, which is usually the best source, says:
Tee Hee.
Anyway Italian for song is Il Canto. Wolf is Il Lupo. Those vowels are significant, so no ribbon I’m afraid.