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. 2,592 journeys so far, 1874 to 2026, 493,508 specimens between them.
1,114 collectors and expeditions42,779 days in the field8,765,933 km between stops330,332 photographed specimens
2,592 journeys



T. Cora
Oʻahu · Jun – Aug 1930
T. Cora in Oʻahu, June – August 1930168 specimens · 9 stops · 79 days · 599 km

Harold St.John
5 islands · Jun – Aug 1947
Harold St.John across 5 islands, June – August 1947162 specimens · 13 stops · 63 days · 23,782 km
L.A.C. Craven
4 islands of Papua New Guinea · Jul – Sep 1964
L.A.C. Craven across 4 islands of Papua New Guinea, July – September 1964116 specimens · 43 stops · 85 days · 1,230 km
Derral R. Herbst
5 islands · Feb – Apr 1988
Derral R. Herbst across 5 islands, February – April 1988201 specimens · 16 stops · 49 days · 7,903 km
J.R. Croft
3 islands of Papua New Guinea · Aug – Oct 1974
J.R. Croft in Lavongai, New Ireland and Fergusson Island, August – October 1974152 specimens · 14 stops · 60 days · 4,346 km
J.A. Shafer
Cuba · Jan – May 1909
J.A. Shafer in Cuba, January – May 1909175 specimens · 52 stops · 102 days
Johnson Randall
5 islands · Jun – Dec 1971
Johnson Randall across 5 islands, June – December 1971221 specimens · 23 stops · 158 days · 27,137 km
Paul K. Higashino
Maui and Hawaiʻi Island · Jun – Jul 1975
Paul K. Higashino in Maui and Hawaiʻi Island, June – July 1975158 specimens · 12 stops · 52 days · 377 km
A.R. Emery
11 islands of Palau · Mar – Apr 1970
A.R. Emery across 11 islands of Palau, March – April 1970294 specimens · 18 stops · 28 days · 43,958 km
Paul K. Higashino
Molokaʻi and Hawaiʻi Island · May – Aug 1979
Paul K. Higashino in Molokaʻi and Hawaiʻi Island, May – August 1979138 specimens · 22 stops · 72 days · 976 km
P. Longley
Hawaiʻi Island · 19–31 Dec 1937
P. Longley in Hawaiʻi Island, 19–31 December 1937209 specimens · 9 stops · 13 days
Jacques Florence
4 islands · Apr – Jul 1991
Jacques Florence across 4 islands, April – July 1991294 specimens · 7 stops · 85 days · 5,985 km
R. Melville
3 islands of New Zealand · Oct 1961 – Jan 1962
R. Melville in North Island, New Zealand and South Island, October 1961 – January 1962137 specimens · 21 stops · 100 days · 40,252 km
Steven Perlman
9 islands · Sep – Dec 2008
Steven Perlman across 9 islands, September – December 2008122 specimens · 20 stops · 81 days · 10,371 km
G.W. Gillett
3 islands of the United States · Jan – May 1964
G.W. Gillett in Oʻahu, Kauaʻi and Maui, January – May 1964114 specimens · 22 stops · 121 days · 912 km

Gerrit Parmele Wilder
7 islands · Aug – Sep 1923
Gerrit Parmele Wilder across 7 islands, August – September 1923171 specimens · 15 stops · 36 days · 5,391 km
M. Jayasuriya
Sri Lanka · Oct – Nov 1973
M. Jayasuriya in Sri Lanka, October – November 1973200 specimens · 7 stops · 39 days
Otto Degener
3 islands of the United States · Oct 1948 – Apr 1949
Otto Degener in Maui, Oʻahu and Hawaiʻi Island, October 1948 – April 1949115 specimens · 24 stops · 160 days · 1,125 km
Harold St.John
3 islands · 4–15 Apr 1938
Harold St.John in Lānaʻi, Maui and Rotuma, 4–15 April 1938248 specimens · 6 stops · 12 days · 4,846 km
M.V.C. Falanruw
3 islands of the Northern Mariana Islands · Apr – May 1982
M.V.C. Falanruw in Rota, Tinian and Saipan, April – May 1982265 specimens · 14 stops · 19 days · 217 km



Edwin Horace Bryan Jr.
4 islands of the United States · Jul – Sep 1927
Edwin Horace Bryan Jr. across 4 islands of the United States, July – September 1927243 specimens · 11 stops · 55 days · 849 km
A. Meebold
4 islands · Oct – Dec 1929
A. Meebold across 4 islands, October – December 1929163 specimens · 9 stops · 73 days · 9,986 km
Marie Catherine Neal
Hawaiʻi Island · 6–19 Aug 1935
Marie Catherine Neal in Hawaiʻi Island, 6–19 August 1935200 specimens · 10 stops · 14 days · 24 km
Maxwell S. Doty
11 islands · Dec 1964 – Feb 1965
Maxwell S. Doty across 11 islands, December 1964 – February 1965158 specimens · 14 stops · 38 days · 6,438 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.
