Bishop MuseumExplore

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. 1,954 journeys so far, 1874 to 2026, 349,432 specimens between them.

830 collectors and expeditions34,320 days in the field7,297,183 km between stops244,553 photographed specimens

Truman George Yuncker

11 islands of Tonga · Feb – Jun 1953

Truman George Yuncker across 11 islands of Tonga, February – June 1953

1,148 specimens · 59 stops · 103 days

Otto Degener

5 islands of the United States · Jan – Aug 1928

Otto Degener across 5 islands of the United States, January – August 1928

748 specimens · 74 stops · 209 days · 1,716 km

F.L. Stevens

5 islands of the United States · May – Sep 1921

F.L. Stevens across 5 islands of the United States, May – September 1921

1,528 specimens · 60 stops · 153 days · 4,446 km

Harold St.John

Oʻahu and Maui · Sep 1929 – May 1930

Harold St.John in Oʻahu and Maui, September 1929 – May 1930

759 specimens · 51 stops · 230 days · 1,207 km

Charles N. Forbes

6 islands of the United States · Jun – Sep 1919

Charles N. Forbes across 6 islands of the United States, June – September 1919

1,048 specimens · 28 stops · 88 days · 422 km

Olof H. Selling

5 islands of the United States · Jun – Oct 1938

Olof H. Selling across 5 islands of the United States, June – October 1938

828 specimens · 44 stops · 106 days · 2,316 km

Pacific Entomological Survey

6 islands of French Polynesia · May 1930 – Jan 1931

Pacific Entomological Survey, May 1930 – January 1931

797 specimens · 34 stops · 228 days · 8,102 km

Harold St.John

7 islands · Sep 1932 – Jan 1933

Harold St.John across 7 islands, September 1932 – January 1933

929 specimens · 23 stops · 113 days · 8,847 km

P.S. Vroom

21 islands · Aug – Sep 2003

P.S. Vroom across 21 islands, August – September 2003

1,971 specimens · 23 stops · 37 days · 31,356 km

Leonard J. Brass

13 islands · Jul 1932 – Jan 1933

Leonard J. Brass across 13 islands, July 1932 – January 1933

816 specimens · 69 stops · 206 days · 10,057 km

Carl Skottsberg

6 islands of the United States · Jun – Oct 1938

Carl Skottsberg across 6 islands of the United States, June – October 1938

776 specimens · 47 stops · 106 days · 2,822 km

Lucy May Cranwell

6 islands of the United States · May – Oct 1938

Lucy May Cranwell across 6 islands of the United States, May – October 1938

734 specimens · 51 stops · 146 days · 3,245 km

Yoshio KondoKay Kondo

Oʻahu and Sulu Island · Nov 1952 – Jun 1953

Yoshio KondoKay Kondo in Oʻahu and Sulu Island, November 1952 – June 1953

749 specimens · 29 stops · 217 days · 1,689 km

A.J. Bernatowicz

21 islands · Feb – Sep 1949

A.J. Bernatowicz across 21 islands, February – September 1949

593 specimens · 106 stops · 209 days

Seymour H. Sohmer

Sri Lanka and Oʻahu · Oct – Dec 1975

Seymour H. Sohmer in Sri Lanka and Oʻahu, October – December 1975

936 specimens · 26 stops · 44 days

G.E. Edano

35 islands · Jan – May 1957

G.E. Edano across 35 islands, January – May 1957

653 specimens · 58 stops · 131 days · 4,198 km

F. Raymond Fosberg

21 islands · Jan – Apr 1950

F. Raymond Fosberg across 21 islands, January – April 1950

939 specimens · 61 stops · 96 days · 90,398 km

Otto Degener

5 islands of the United States · Mar – Aug 1926

Otto Degener across 5 islands of the United States, March – August 1926

607 specimens · 71 stops · 177 days · 3,068 km

Yoshio KondoKay Kondo

36 islands · Jan – May 1957

Yoshio KondoKay Kondo across 36 islands, January – May 1957

648 specimens · 59 stops · 131 days · 2,868 km

A.A. Heller

3 islands of the United States · Mar – Nov 1895

A.A. Heller in Kauaʻi, Oʻahu and Maui, March – November 1895

602 specimens · 77 stops · 257 days · 2,287 km

Yoshio KondoKay Kondo

22 islands · Jun – Dec 1968

Yoshio KondoKay Kondo across 22 islands, June – December 1968

642 specimens · 45 stops · 180 days · 13,960 km

Derral R. Herbst

7 islands of the United States · Jan – Sep 1968

Derral R. Herbst across 7 islands of the United States, January – September 1968

615 specimens · 67 stops · 243 days · 5,686 km

Derral R. Herbst

12 islands · Dec 1971 – Aug 1972

Derral R. Herbst across 12 islands, December 1971 – August 1972

634 specimens · 53 stops · 263 days · 25,096 km

Edward Yataro Hosaka

31 islands · Apr – Aug 1946

Edward Yataro Hosaka across 31 islands, April – August 1946

872 specimens · 51 stops · 110 days · 43,680 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.