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Journeys

The expeditions, reassembled

Every dated label is a diary entry. Read a collector’s labels in order and the voyage comes back: the islands in sequence, the days at each, the specimens from every stop. 41 journeys so far, 1921 to 1971, 34,190 specimens between them.

27 collectors and expeditions1,775 days in the field470,686 km between stops26,999 photographed specimens

Ernest H. Quayle

5 islands of French Polynesia · Sep – Nov 1921

Ernest H. Quayle across 5 islands of French Polynesia, September – November 1921

271 specimens · 29 stops · 78 days · 4,525 km

Gerrit Parmele Wilder

3 islands of French Polynesia · Aug – Dec 1932

Gerrit Parmele Wilder in Makatea, Tahiti and Moorea, August – December 1932

218 specimens · 23 stops · 120 days · 1,308 km

Alastair M. Adamson

Tahiti and Moorea · Oct – Dec 1928

Alastair M. Adamson in Tahiti and Moorea, October – December 1928

203 specimens · 15 stops · 49 days · 153 km

Stokes

Rapa · Jun – Oct 1921

Stokes in Rapa, June – October 1921

174 specimens · 12 stops · 143 days · 1,215 km

Gerrit Parmele Wilder

7 islands · Aug – Sep 1923

Gerrit Parmele Wilder across 7 islands, August – September 1923

171 specimens · 15 stops · 36 days · 5,391 km

Gerrit Parmele Wilder

3 islands · Jul – Dec 1926

Gerrit Parmele Wilder in Moorea, Tahiti and Penrhyn Atoll, July – December 1926

77 specimens · 29 stops · 145 days · 451 km

Gerrit Parmele Wilder

5 islands · Mar – Aug 1927

Gerrit Parmele Wilder across 5 islands, March – August 1927

69 specimens · 28 stops · 155 days · 13,558 km

Whitney Expedition

12 islands of French Polynesia · Jun – Sep 1922

Whitney Expedition, June – September 1922

63 specimens · 16 stops · 86 days · 4,274 km

Alastair M. Adamson

Tahiti · Aug – Sep 1928

Alastair M. Adamson in Tahiti, August – September 1928

91 specimens · 6 stops · 28 days · 82 km

Pacific Entomological Survey

Nuku Hiva · May – Jun 1931

Pacific Entomological Survey, May – June 1931

105 specimens · 4 stops · 24 days · 6 km

Gerrit Parmele Wilder

7 islands · Jun – Aug 1925

Gerrit Parmele Wilder across 7 islands, June – August 1925

52 specimens · 22 stops · 65 days · 10,586 km

Dennis M. Devaney

8 islands · Feb – Mar 1971

Dennis M. Devaney across 8 islands, February – March 1971

90 specimens · 13 stops · 41 days · 1,684 km

Noel Louis Hilmer Krauss

4 islands · Jan – Feb 1962

Noel Louis Hilmer Krauss across 4 islands, January – February 1962

57 specimens · 12 stops · 30 days · 22,109 km

Noel Louis Hilmer Krauss

7 islands · Jan – Mar 1960

Noel Louis Hilmer Krauss across 7 islands, January – March 1960

57 specimens · 7 stops · 58 days · 16,910 km

Dennis M. Devaney

16 islands · Sep – Oct 1967

Dennis M. Devaney across 16 islands, September – October 1967

50 specimens · 18 stops · 56 days · 7,816 km

John Francis Gray Stokes

3 islands of French Polynesia · Mar – Apr 1922

John Francis Gray Stokes in Raivavae, Rapa and Rimatara, March – April 1922

50 specimens · 9 stops · 52 days · 8 km

Alex B. Anderson

3 islands of French Polynesia · 8–26 Aug 1934

Alex B. Anderson in Tubuai, Rurutu and Raivavae, 8–26 August 1934

40 specimens · 5 stops · 19 days · 411 km

How a journey is found

Every specimen with a full date and a known collector is a diary entry. The days are read in order; a gap of more than three weeks ends one journey and starts the next. Days spent where a collector lived most of their life are home, not travel, and are left out.

A journey needs at least five days, forty specimens and two places. Within it, a run of days spent within about ten kilometres is one stop; the stop’s point is the middle of the labels that carry coordinates, or the island’s centre when none do.

Companions are the people whose own labels put them in the same place on the same days. Staff can name a journey, write about it and feature it; everything else here is read straight off the specimens, and is rebuilt as the records improve.