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
36 journeys match
Jacques Florence
4 islands of French Polynesia · Feb – Mar 1986
Jacques Florence across 4 islands of French Polynesia, February – March 1986133 specimens · 7 stops · 27 days · 15,964 km

Whitney Expedition
12 islands of French Polynesia · Jun – Sep 1922
Whitney Expedition, June – September 192263 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 1982122 specimens · 6 stops · 54 days · 3,245 km



Pacific Entomological Survey
Nuku Hiva · May – Jun 1931
Pacific Entomological Survey, May – June 1931105 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 195786 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 196069 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 200460 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 1982127 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 1988102 specimens · 3 stops · 30 days · 195 km


Dennis M. Devaney
16 islands · Sep – Oct 1967
Dennis M. Devaney across 16 islands, September – October 196750 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 197745 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 198265 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.
