Historical Background

A.D. Hopkins, commonly referred to as the father of forest entomology in the United States, formulated the record-keeping system that now bears his name. He believed "There is nothing of greater importance...than a well-organized system of keeping notes, records, and references." He kept handwritten personal records for insects and damage specimens from as early as 1894 until 1944, a few years before his death at age 91. Hopkins brought his indexing system to USDA when he came to the Division of Entomology about 1900 from the staff at West Virginia University. L.O. Howard, Division Chief, noticed Hopkins' scheme and mandated its use among his entomology staff in 1903. The System became widely used by Forest Service research and pest management units and by the Systematic Entomology Laboratory of the Agricultural Research Service until the late 1970's.

The basis of Hopkins' organizing scheme was a series of notebooks or note cards that contained collection and identification information about specific insect or damage specimens, each record with a unique sequential number. Fundamentally, the System has three components: a numerical card; an insect species card; and a plant- or insect host card, filed in alphabetical order according to taxon.

The Hopkins U.S. System is as valuable to entomologists and forest ecologists today as it was in the first half of this century. The notes and records constitute a history of the foundations of forest entomology in North America. Earlier, the System was a means of sharing information among investigators during the pioneering days of forest entomology when little was known, not even the identities, of a large proportion of forest insects in this country. The card files are the repository for historical information on the identities, biologies, and distribution of thousands of insect species found on forest trees and shrubs, and wood products. These observations link pioneering entomologists and modern forest ecologists.

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