Hopkins Notes and Records System

[1] The System was formally initiated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 1902 by Hopkins himself, who was subsequently named Chief of Forest Insect Investigations.

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.

The system, represented in these volumes, consists of notebook entries bearing “checklist numbers,” and a set of such file cards.

Taken as a whole, the Notebook Series chronicles the work and travels of many of the pioneering figures of North American entomology, from the turn of the century to about 1920.

For example, specimens or collections from Central and South America, Mexico, Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and Africa appear there.

The card observations consist of the collection and identification information associated, by number, with specific insect or damage specimens.

Hopkins' organizing scheme was based on a series of duplicate paper records that contained collection and identification information about the specimens.

Specimens, each one bearing its own unique Hopkins US Number, and collection records were stored at Forest Service Research Stations and Laboratories, Regional Offices, and at the ARS-SEL in the U.S. National Museum / Smithsonian Institution.

In addition to the drawings and textual narratives, the record can also have measurements, notes on the research study or spray program, or rearing and other biological data provided by the original collector.

Of these, about 37,000 records from Hopkins System files held by Forest Service units, mostly in the West, were developed into a relational database.

Such information is available from Forest Service repositories, ARS-SEL at the U. S. National Museum / Smithsonian Institution, and from several universities where specimens, records, and/or microfiche now reside.

The System was also a means of information sharing for the very earliest investigators during the pioneering phases of forest entomology in the United States.

With its files containing nearly 200,000 records, the System is most important as a repository for information on the biologies, habits, and distributions of many thousands of insects of forest trees and other woody plants.

The Hopkins U.S. System files contain valuable biological information that can be used as a basis for dealing with insects reaching pest status.