IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Renton, DUMBARTON, G82 4NR

Of the 5 males attracted to the light in the station building, 1 is the melanic form f.monacharia. Like many winter geometrids the females are apterous. http://ukmoths.org.uk/show.php?id=3110

(Chilocorus renipustulatus) The elytra (wingcases) each have a red spot on black background. The pronotum (at the front, which is on the left in this picture) is wholly black, distinguishing this species from some otherwise similar melanic (dark) forms of the Two-Spot Ladybird, and from some forms of the extremely variable Harlequin Ladybird. This species is common in England, much less so in Scotland. It is mostly seen on deciduous trees. See http://www.coleoptera.org.uk/species/chilocorus-renipustulatus (at UK Beetle Recording) for further details, along with a distribution map. Note, though, that the distribution shown on such maps reflects not just the abundance of the species in each area, but the area covered by each of the data sources used, as well as the distribution of people who are interested in insects.

The ground at the centre of the image had recently been waste ground (Image), but was now being laid out for storage; specifically, to support large metal storage containers that were set up here later: Image The fence was replaced soon after the present picture was taken: Image The houses in the central background are on Station Street. Back Street is on the right. Part of this area is seen, as rough ground, at the far right in an earlier picture: Image

The picture was taken about a week after Image The fence was being replaced, as shown here. Compare Image, taken in April 2011, and showing rough ground here, and Image, taken about six months after the present picture, and showing the storage containers that were set up on the site; by that time, replacement of the original fence was complete.

This fairly small industrial estate is located on the western side of Image

See Image (an earlier picture) for context, and for how the site was developed from rough ground.

The rough ground within the fence, directly ahead, was later cleared, then surfaced, and finally given over to storage units: Image / Image / Image For the brick building further away on the right, see Image

The large building on the right is Image, whose grounds are behind the fence; in the 1970s, it replaced the previous school building, which stood on the site of the present-day school pitch. The first turning on the left leads into Image For a view along the same section of the street, but in the opposite direction, see Image See also Image, which was taken from a point further north along the street, looking in the opposite direction.

This is Back Street. The view is from the junction shown in Image The previous road surface had been removed, but the new one was not yet in place. Image is on the right, but this has never deterred vehicles from speeding along the road. When the road was resurfaced, the existing speed bumps (see Image) were removed; they had not, in any case, been useful: they merely provided something for lorries to clang over, while not slowing anything down. (Update: the useless speed bumps were added separately, several weeks later, and in the same ineffective form as before. If the Council had been serious about reducing speed here, they would have done better to install a speed camera.)