his interest was not primarily in collection of insects but in taxonomy. In 1862 he published the first part of Rhopalocera Africae Australis: A Catalogue of South African Butterflies, Comprising Descriptions of All the Known Species, With Notices of Their Larvae, Pupae, Localities, Habits, Seasons of Appearance, and Geographical Distribution followed in 1866 by the second part. This work was the first attempt to comprehensively describe the butterflies of South Africa. Over the next 30 years Trimen published several significant papers on Lepidoptera, including: "On the butterflies of Madagascar". (1864). "Notes on the butterflies of Mauritius". (1867). "On some undescribed species of South African butterflies, including a new genus of Lycaenidae". (1868). "On some new species of butterflies discovered in extratropical southern Africa". (1873). His most important work on Lepidoptera was a three volume series published in conjunction with James Henry Bowker in 1887-1889 entitled South African Butterflies: A Monograph of the Extra-Tropical Species which described 380 species. His publications made him the leading authority on South African butterflies of his time. Trimen received butterfly specimens from a network of friends including Bowker and his sister Mary Elizabeth Barber. His Lepidoptera collection was purchased by James John Joicey. Other interests Triman was a member of the Vine Diseases Commission of 1880 and attended the international congress on Phylloxera in Bordeaux in 1881 on behalf of the Cape Colony. He became the first chairman of the Phyloxerra Commission in 1886 that was appointed by the Cape government to study root rot in Cape vines. Trimen also described a new species of bird, the racket-tailed roller, based on skins provided to the South African Museum. Trimen also studied pollination in orchids and these were of interest to Charles Darwin and led to a correspondence between them. In addition, he wrote papers about leopards, sun-birds, the teeth of a whale and rare fish. Recognition, awards, memberships Member of the Entomological Society of London (1859), president (1897-1898) Fellow of the Linnean Society (1871) Member of the British Association for the Advancement of Science (1871) Fellow of the Royal Society of London (1882) Founding member - South African Philosophical Society, first secretary (1877-1878), president (1883-1884) Honorary MA conferred by the University of Oxford (1899) Honorary member of the South African Ornithologists' Union (1904) Honorary fellow of the Royal Society of South Africa (1908) Darwin Medal of the Royal Society (1910) Private life Trimen married Henrietta