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. 38 journeys so far, 1922 to 2017, 9,607 specimens between them.
19 collectors and expeditions961 days in the field291,138 km between stops3,961 photographed specimens
38 journeys match



Pacific Entomological Survey
6 islands of French Polynesia · May 1930 – Jan 1931
Pacific Entomological Survey, May 1930 – January 1931797 specimens · 34 stops · 228 days · 8,102 km
Ernest H. Quayle
25 islands · Jun – Nov 1922
Ernest H. Quayle across 25 islands, June – November 1922642 specimens · 56 stops · 162 days · 7,539 km
Steven Perlman
7 islands · May – Aug 1988
Steven Perlman across 7 islands, May – August 1988739 specimens · 31 stops · 95 days · 11,103 km
Wood Jones
22 islands · Jul – Dec 1922
Wood Jones across 22 islands, July – December 1922478 specimens · 45 stops · 142 days · 3,823 km
Kenneth R. Wood
8 islands · Jul – Dec 1995
Kenneth R. Wood across 8 islands, July – December 1995447 specimens · 35 stops · 139 days · 32,262 km
Jacques Florence
8 islands of French Polynesia · Jun – Aug 1988
Jacques Florence across 8 islands of French Polynesia, June – August 1988627 specimens · 15 stops · 60 days · 8,617 km
Betsy H. Gagne
11 islands · Jun – Sep 1977
Betsy H. Gagne across 11 islands, June – September 1977480 specimens · 22 stops · 84 days · 12,628 km
B.G. Decker
8 islands · Jan – Jun 1964
B.G. Decker across 8 islands, January – June 1964346 specimens · 39 stops · 147 days · 2,052 km
Warren L. Wagner Jr.
7 islands · Jun – Aug 1988
Warren L. Wagner Jr. across 7 islands, June – August 1988536 specimens · 19 stops · 59 days · 10,062 km
David H. Lorence
6 islands · Jun – Aug 1988
David H. Lorence across 6 islands, June – August 1988538 specimens · 18 stops · 37 days · 9,578 km
Steven Perlman
9 islands · Aug – Dec 1995
Steven Perlman across 9 islands, August – December 1995320 specimens · 39 stops · 137 days · 51,778 km
M.-H Sachet
8 islands of French Polynesia · Nov 1974 – Feb 1975
M.-H Sachet across 8 islands of French Polynesia, November 1974 – February 1975286 specimens · 34 stops · 108 days · 4,737 km
M.-H Sachet
6 islands · Jul – Nov 1963
M.-H Sachet across 6 islands, July – November 1963308 specimens · 22 stops · 118 days · 9,873 km
B.G. Decker
Hiva Oa and Hivaoa · Sep – Dec 1963
B.G. Decker in Hiva Oa and Hivaoa, September – December 1963250 specimens · 26 stops · 83 days
P.A. Schafer
4 islands of French Polynesia · Jan – Apr 1975
P.A. Schafer across 4 islands of French Polynesia, January – April 1975231 specimens · 36 stops · 89 days · 329 km
Royce L. Oliver
3 islands of French Polynesia · Jan – Mar 1975
Royce L. Oliver in Hiva Oa, Tahuata and Hivaoa, January – March 1975220 specimens · 27 stops · 58 days · 222 km
B.G. Decker
8 islands · Sep – Nov 1974
B.G. Decker across 8 islands, September – November 1974227 specimens · 24 stops · 63 days · 5,150 km
Steven L. Montgomery
9 islands of French Polynesia · Jul – Oct 1988
Steven L. Montgomery across 9 islands of French Polynesia, July – October 1988277 specimens · 18 stops · 73 days · 10,669 km
J.C. Chapin
15 islands · Oct 1934 – Jan 1935
J.C. Chapin across 15 islands, October 1934 – January 1935125 specimens · 26 stops · 107 days · 13,508 km
Steven Perlman
6 islands · Apr – Jul 2004
Steven Perlman across 6 islands, April – July 2004114 specimens · 22 stops · 110 days · 9,780 km



Pacific Entomological Survey
Ua Pou and Hiva Oa · Oct – Dec 1931
Pacific Entomological Survey, October – December 1931233 specimens · 2 stops · 36 days · 125 km
Steven Perlman
4 islands · Jan – Feb 2003
Steven Perlman across 4 islands, January – February 2003124 specimens · 14 stops · 50 days · 6,562 km
Jacques Florence
4 islands of French Polynesia · Apr – Jun 1984
Jacques Florence across 4 islands of French Polynesia, April – June 1984147 specimens · 7 stops · 63 days · 9,717 km
Hessler Brown
13 islands of French Polynesia · Aug – Dec 1922
Hessler Brown across 13 islands of French Polynesia, August – December 192274 specimens · 29 stops · 137 days · 9,305 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.
