[1] Herbert was born on April 12, 1882, in Yankton, South Dakota, to Amherst Willoughby and Velma Barber.

Starting in 1908 on he worked as a specialist on beetles in the Division of Insect Identification of the Bureau of Entomology and Plant Quarantine of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

This was potentially his greatest single discovery, which occurred only fifteen years after he had his first exposure to entomological work.

He was an internationally recognized authority on chrysomelid, bruchid, and lampyrid beetles and often was consulted for his knowledge of Coleoptera as well as many other subjects.

As a member of the Washington Biologists' Field Club, Barber spent a lot of time on Plummers Island studying the beetles there with Dr. Schwartz.