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
M. Mousset
Java · Apr – Aug 1909
M. Mousset in Java, April – August 190972 specimens · 17 stops · 123 days
Ben Nyberg
Kauaʻi · Jun – Oct 2020
Ben Nyberg in Kauaʻi, June – October 202097 specimens · 11 stops · 125 days
E.J. Hehre
Campobello · Aug 1966 – Jan 1967
E.J. Hehre in Campobello, August 1966 – January 196764 specimens · 23 stops · 150 days
F.C. How
3 islands · Mar – Apr 1935
F.C. How in Hainan, Hainan Island and Hatutaa, March – April 1935132 specimens · 5 stops · 32 days
B. Kimura
4 islands of the United States · Jun – Aug 1978
B. Kimura across 4 islands of the United States, June – August 197885 specimens · 15 stops · 50 days · 598 km
Benjamin C. Stone
Mindoro · Mar – Apr 1991
Benjamin C. Stone in Mindoro, March – April 199199 specimens · 13 stops · 21 days
Judson Linsley Gressitt
Hawaiʻi Island · Jul – Nov 1971
Judson Linsley Gressitt in Hawaiʻi Island, July – November 1971147 specimens · 14 stops · 131 days · 6,218 km
D. Mueller-Dombois
3 islands of New Caledonia · 6–19 Aug 1981
D. Mueller-Dombois in New Caledonia, Grande-Terre and Isle Of Pines, 6–19 August 1981199 specimens · 10 stops · 14 days
ESP Field Crew
Hawaiʻi Island and Kauaʻi · Jul – Oct 1979
ESP Field Crew, July – October 1979105 specimens · 7 stops · 94 days · 1,846 km
J.A. McDonald
New Guinea and Irian Jaya · May – Jun 1993
J.A. McDonald in New Guinea and Irian Jaya, May – June 1993131 specimens · 7 stops · 24 days · 2,310 km
Maxwell S. Doty
5 islands of the United States · Jun – Aug 1948
Maxwell S. Doty across 5 islands of the United States, June – August 194874 specimens · 22 stops · 82 days
W.R. Sykes
Rarotonga and Mangaia · Jan – Feb 1990
W.R. Sykes in Rarotonga and Mangaia, January – February 1990103 specimens · 35 stops · 40 days · 5,124 km
Ruth D. Svihla
Oʻahu and Maui · Jun – Aug 1934
Ruth D. Svihla in Oʻahu and Maui, June – August 1934152 specimens · 12 stops · 44 days · 191 km
Steven Perlman
4 islands of the United States · May – Jul 2013
Steven Perlman across 4 islands of the United States, May – July 201375 specimens · 17 stops · 58 days · 1,476 km
Jr.William Ellsworth Fisher Jr.
6 islands · Oct – Dec 1989
Jr.William Ellsworth Fisher Jr. across 6 islands, October – December 1989103 specimens · 14 stops · 61 days · 893 km
William H. Meinecke
Hawaiʻi Island · 10–23 Aug 1926
William H. Meinecke in Hawaiʻi Island, 10–23 August 1926188 specimens · 3 stops · 14 days · 124 km
R.S. Isles
New Britain and Ott Island · May – Jun 1973
R.S. Isles in New Britain and Ott Island, May – June 1973103 specimens · 10 stops · 38 days · 784 km
Kenneth M. Nagata
3 islands of the United States · Jun – Aug 1978
Kenneth M. Nagata in Hawaiʻi Island, Maui and Molokaʻi, June – August 197886 specimens · 15 stops · 44 days · 639 km
P.F. Hunt
6 islands · Jul – Nov 1965
P.F. Hunt across 6 islands, July – November 196569 specimens · 35 stops · 147 days · 15,687 km
Hans George Hornbostel
Oct – Nov 1925
Hans George Hornbostel, October – November 1925164 specimens · 3 stops · 37 days · 3 km
Henry E. Crampton
Saipan · Jun – Sep 1920
Henry E. Crampton in Saipan, June – September 192092 specimens · 9 stops · 64 days · 573 km
Harold St.John
4 islands of the United States · Jun – Jul 1955
Harold St.John across 4 islands of the United States, June – July 195596 specimens · 11 stops · 34 days · 411 km
A.J. Bernatowicz
8 islands of the United States · Jun – Aug 1951
A.J. Bernatowicz across 8 islands of the United States, June – August 195176 specimens · 23 stops · 60 days
Leila Morrison
Maui and Lānaʻi · Apr – Jul 2025
Leila Morrison in Maui and Lānaʻi, April – July 202580 specimens · 12 stops · 79 days · 104 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.