Bureau of Entomology

The Bureau of Entomology was a unit within the Federal government of the United States from 1894 to 1934. It developed from a section of the Department of Agriculture which had been working on entomological researches and allied issues relating to insects.

The American Entomological Society was organized at Philadelphia in 1859, incorporated in 1862, and known until 1867 as the Entomological Society of Philadelphia. On Friday, May 18, 1866, Mr. O'Neill requested an appropriation from the Congress of the United States to maintain the organization's publication Practical Entomologist. The request for Federal funds established a connection between the organization and the Federal government.

The Department of Agriculture was created on July 1, 1862. It included four bureaus, one of which eventually became identified with the Bureau of Entomology. An "entomological division" in the Department of Agriculture existed in 1872, according to Congressional records.

The gipsy moth was introduced by accident from Europe into Massachusetts about 1861. The sweet potato weevil was first discovered in 1875. About 1892, the brown-tail moth was introduced near Boston from Europe. The boll weevil entered Texas about 1892 in the vicinity of Brownsville. The Argentine ant was first discovered in the United States at New Orleans in 1891, New International Encyclopedia and the alfalfa leaf weevil was first discovered in Utah in 1904. Establishing control over an increasing number of insect pests and insect-borne diseases led to the establishment of the Bureau of Entomology.

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