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. 1,980 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

Steven Perlman

9 islands · Aug – Dec 1995

Steven Perlman across 9 islands, August – December 1995

320 specimens · 39 stops · 137 days · 51,778 km

Hamzah

Borneo and Kalimantan · Apr – May 1994

Hamzah in Borneo and Kalimantan, April – May 1994

270 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 1925

244 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 1919

310 specimens · 20 stops · 39 days · 614 km

G.A. Santos

8 islands · Apr – Jun 1969

G.A. Santos across 8 islands, April – June 1969

298 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 1987

366 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 1910

361 specimens · 11 stops · 68 days · 120 km

Edward Yataro Hosaka

4 islands · Jun – Sep 1936

Edward Yataro Hosaka across 4 islands, June – September 1936

232 specimens · 37 stops · 84 days · 4 km

F. Raymond Fosberg

10 islands · Oct – Dec 1978

F. Raymond Fosberg across 10 islands, October – December 1978

361 specimens · 27 stops · 68 days · 79,655 km

W.R. Sykes

5 islands · Apr – Jul 1992

W.R. Sykes across 5 islands, April – July 1992

414 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 1956

293 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 1979

268 specimens · 35 stops · 100 days · 1,207 km

Otto Degener

3 islands · Feb – Sep 1959

Otto Degener in Maui, Oʻahu and Molokaʻi, February – September 1959

214 specimens · 48 stops · 242 days · 2,169 km

A. Nurdin

3 islands · Oct – Nov 1993

A. Nurdin in Borneo, Indonesia and Kalimantan, October – November 1993

290 specimens · 23 stops · 32 days · 3,346 km

W.A. Whistler

8 islands · Jan – Apr 1974

W.A. Whistler across 8 islands, January – April 1974

352 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 1983

435 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 1976

271 specimens · 23 stops · 52 days · 1,816 km

Erling Christophersen

3 islands · May – Jul 1932

Erling Christophersen in Oʻahu, Kauaʻi and Tutuila, May – July 1932

518 specimens · 4 stops · 57 days · 8,548 km

Wm. R. Taylor

6 islands · Feb – Aug 1946

Wm. R. Taylor across 6 islands, February – August 1946

242 specimens · 52 stops · 156 days · 5,901 km

Pacific Entomological Survey

4 islands of French Polynesia · Feb – Apr 1931

Pacific Entomological Survey, February – April 1931

378 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 1934

345 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 1913

406 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 1947

291 specimens · 17 stops · 67 days · 4,927 km

Otto Degener

6 islands · Dec 1968 – Feb 1969

Otto Degener across 6 islands, December 1968 – February 1969

258 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.