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. 36 journeys so far, 1921 to 2004, 9,816 specimens between them.

22 collectors and expeditions891 days in the field320,017 km between stops4,287 photographed specimens

Jacques Florence

4 islands of French Polynesia · Feb – Mar 1986

Jacques Florence across 4 islands of French Polynesia, February – March 1986

133 specimens · 7 stops · 27 days · 15,964 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

Jacques Florence

4 islands of French Polynesia · Apr – May 1982

Jacques Florence across 4 islands of French Polynesia, April – May 1982

122 specimens · 6 stops · 54 days · 3,245 km

Pacific Entomological Survey

Nuku Hiva · May – Jun 1931

Pacific Entomological Survey, May – June 1931

105 specimens · 4 stops · 24 days · 6 km

Johnson Randall

9 islands of French Polynesia · Feb – Jul 1957

Johnson Randall across 9 islands of French Polynesia, February – July 1957

86 specimens · 22 stops · 146 days · 1,617 km

B.G. Decker

5 islands of French Polynesia · Jan – Apr 1960

B.G. Decker across 5 islands of French Polynesia, January – April 1960

69 specimens · 12 stops · 67 days · 865 km

A. Mouly

5 islands of French Polynesia · Jun – Jul 2004

A. Mouly across 5 islands of French Polynesia, June – July 2004

60 specimens · 17 stops · 37 days · 1,785 km

Jacques Florence

Raiatea and Nuku Hiva · Jun – Jul 1982

Jacques Florence in Raiatea and Nuku Hiva, June – July 1982

127 specimens · 5 stops · 13 days · 1,520 km

M. Teikiteetini

4 islands of French Polynesia · Jul – Aug 1988

M. Teikiteetini across 4 islands of French Polynesia, July – August 1988

102 specimens · 3 stops · 30 days · 195 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

Steven L. Montgomery

7 islands of French Polynesia · Jul – Sep 1977

Steven L. Montgomery across 7 islands of French Polynesia, July – September 1977

45 specimens · 12 stops · 71 days · 4,361 km

Jacques Florence

Raiatea and Nuku Hiva · Aug – Sep 1982

Jacques Florence in Raiatea and Nuku Hiva, August – September 1982

65 specimens · 4 stops · 20 days · 1,513 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.