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. 1,980 journeys so far, 1874 to 2026, 356,126 specimens between them.
839 collectors and expeditions34,820 days in the field7,426,317 km between stops244,553 photographed specimens
1,980 journeys match
Steven Perlman
9 islands · Aug – Dec 1995
Steven Perlman across 9 islands, August – December 1995320 specimens · 39 stops · 137 days · 51,778 km
Hamzah
Borneo and Kalimantan · Apr – May 1994
Hamzah in Borneo and Kalimantan, April – May 1994270 specimens · 31 stops · 38 days · 3,384 km


Gerrit Parmele Wilder
18 islands · Nov 1924 – May 1925
Gerrit Parmele Wilder across 18 islands, November 1924 – May 1925244 specimens · 43 stops · 188 days · 15,411 km
Charles N. Forbes
Maui and Oʻahu · Nov – Dec 1919
Charles N. Forbes in Maui and Oʻahu, November – December 1919310 specimens · 20 stops · 39 days · 614 km
G.A. Santos
8 islands · Apr – Jun 1969
G.A. Santos across 8 islands, April – June 1969298 specimens · 16 stops · 89 days
J.S. Burley
3 islands of the Philippines · Mar – Apr 1987
J.S. Burley in Luzon, Mindoro and Mindoro Oriental, March – April 1987366 specimens · 13 stops · 39 days · 3,461 km
Joseph F. Rock
5 islands of the United States · Mar – May 1910
Joseph F. Rock across 5 islands of the United States, March – May 1910361 specimens · 11 stops · 68 days · 120 km
Edward Yataro Hosaka
4 islands · Jun – Sep 1936
Edward Yataro Hosaka across 4 islands, June – September 1936232 specimens · 37 stops · 84 days · 4 km
F. Raymond Fosberg
10 islands · Oct – Dec 1978
F. Raymond Fosberg across 10 islands, October – December 1978361 specimens · 27 stops · 68 days · 79,655 km
W.R. Sykes
5 islands · Apr – Jul 1992
W.R. Sykes across 5 islands, April – July 1992414 specimens · 16 stops · 75 days · 4,191 km
Harold St.John
6 islands · Nov 1955 – Jan 1956
Harold St.John across 6 islands, November 1955 – January 1956293 specimens · 22 stops · 65 days · 13,814 km
Steven L. Montgomery
3 islands of the United States · May – Sep 1979
Steven L. Montgomery in Molokaʻi, Hawaiʻi Island and Lānaʻi, May – September 1979268 specimens · 35 stops · 100 days · 1,207 km
Otto Degener
3 islands · Feb – Sep 1959
Otto Degener in Maui, Oʻahu and Molokaʻi, February – September 1959214 specimens · 48 stops · 242 days · 2,169 km
A. Nurdin
3 islands · Oct – Nov 1993
A. Nurdin in Borneo, Indonesia and Kalimantan, October – November 1993290 specimens · 23 stops · 32 days · 3,346 km
W.A. Whistler
8 islands · Jan – Apr 1974
W.A. Whistler across 8 islands, January – April 1974352 specimens · 31 stops · 99 days · 522 km
Derral R. Herbst
3 islands · Mar – Jun 1983
Derral R. Herbst in Guam, Oʻahu and Maui, March – June 1983435 specimens · 21 stops · 80 days · 24,826 km
Elbert L. Little Jr.
6 islands of the United States · Aug – Sep 1976
Elbert L. Little Jr. across 6 islands of the United States, August – September 1976271 specimens · 23 stops · 52 days · 1,816 km



Erling Christophersen
3 islands · May – Jul 1932
Erling Christophersen in Oʻahu, Kauaʻi and Tutuila, May – July 1932518 specimens · 4 stops · 57 days · 8,548 km
Wm. R. Taylor
6 islands · Feb – Aug 1946
Wm. R. Taylor across 6 islands, February – August 1946242 specimens · 52 stops · 156 days · 5,901 km



Pacific Entomological Survey
4 islands of French Polynesia · Feb – Apr 1931
Pacific Entomological Survey, February – April 1931378 specimens · 7 stops · 89 days · 322 km
Jean Maireau
3 islands · Jun – Jul 1934
Jean Maireau in Rapa, Karapo Rahi and Pitcairn Island, June – July 1934345 specimens · 20 stops · 55 days · 2,910 km

Charles N. Forbes
4 islands of the United States · Jun – Jul 1913
Charles N. Forbes across 4 islands of the United States, June – July 1913406 specimens · 8 stops · 38 days · 774 km
Harold St.John
7 islands · Dec 1946 – Feb 1947
Harold St.John across 7 islands, December 1946 – February 1947291 specimens · 17 stops · 67 days · 4,927 km
Otto Degener
6 islands · Dec 1968 – Feb 1969
Otto Degener across 6 islands, December 1968 – February 1969258 specimens · 29 stops · 52 days · 41,268 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.
