Beetle

. It's just been a matter of which group prevails within the USBC - or what new technology comes along next. There is a thriving industry in the collection of wild caught species for amateur and professional collectors. These complaints have actually been part of the game throughout USBC history. See the list of list of notable coleopterists for more information. At the same time, less aggressive players might complain when they can't get their balls to hook. The study of beetles is called coleopterology, and its practitioners coleopterists. This is because advanced players using hi-tech balls "need" more oil to score high and might complain about the radical behavior of their balls on "dry" lanes.

"Le Scarabée Sacré", the opening essay in Jean-Henri Fabre's famous Souvenirs Entomologiques, deals with the insect. It is the opinion of many people in the bowling community that these advances in bowling ball technology have actually undermined bowling skill and have made it more difficult for lane maintenance personnel to lay out fair and credible conditions for participants. The amulets were often inscribed with a spell from the Book of the Dead which entreated the heart to, "do not stand as a witness against me.". Bowlers are embracing these choices, buying balls whose characteristics complement or enhance their deliveries. During and following the New Kingdom, scarab amulets were often placed over the heart of the mummified deceased. Additionally, balls with covers that create higher friction, such as "particle" balls, provide for more traction and hook. In many artifacts, the scarab is depicted pushing the sun along its course in the sky. The advent of dynamic ball balancing meant that bowlers could achieve "ball flair" without the need for a 3/4 roller delivery, and more hook.

Many thousands of amulets and stamp seals have been excavated that depict the scarab. It is possible to use dynamic ball balancing to achieve a stronger gyroscopic effect than static balancing alone. The scarab beetle god Khepri was believed to push the setting sun along the sky in the same manner as the beetle with his ball of dung. It is basically the same thing as a spinning toy top "going around in a circle." In the case of a rotating bowling ball, as it moves along the lane, there is only time for its total rotation axis to move along a short arc, but this is enough to reorient the total rotation so that some of the forward-roll becomes side-roll, increasing the side-roll provided in the bowler's delivery, thereby achieving more hook. The ray-like antennae on the beetle's head and its practice of dung-rolling caused the beetle to also carry solar symbolism. The component of imbalance along the rotation axis provides a leverage that can change the orientation of the axis on its horizontal plane, an action physicists call precession. Therefore they were worshipped as "Khepri", which means "he who came forth." This creative aspect of the scarab was associated with the creator god Atum. Another effect of ball imbalance (either static or dynamic) is the ability to introduce gyroscopic effects on the rotation.

It seemed to the ancient Egyptians that young scarab beetles emerged spontaneously from the burrow where they were born. It probably goes without saying why bowlers often wipe oil off the ball. The scarab beetles (family Scarabaeidae) are coprophagous beetles. This has the effect of bringing relatively dry ball surface in contact with the lane, increasing traction for both forward-roll and side-roll. Some farmers introduce beetle banks to foster and provide cover for beneficial beetles. This is because at every spot along the circle friction reduces the rotation, and that includes the spin component, causing rotation on a continually larger circle. There are several serious agricultural and household pests represented by the order, these include :. With a 3/4-roller a bowler puts the ball into a rotation whose contact ring is smaller, and on successive rotations enlarges (subsequent examination of the ball often shows a flaring of the circles of oil).

See the article subgroups of the order Coleoptera for a complete list of families. The "semi-roller" is now preferred (it may also be called "3/4 roller" or by other slang terms). The extraordinary number of beetle species poses special problems for classification, with some families consisting of thousands of species and needing further division into subfamilies and tribes. The "full-roller" had been the dominant choice before the changes in lane coatings and oil. Their phylogenetic relationship is uncertain, with the most popular hypothesis being that Polyphaga and Myxophaga are most closely related, with Adephaga an outgroup to those two, and Archostemata an outgroup to the other three. On successive rotations, the "full roller" repeatedly contacts the lane on the same full circumferential circle, on which the oil accumulates, making it harder for the side-roll to find traction and create hooking action. These suborders diverged in the Permian and Triassic. It has been known since before the 1960s that a "full-roller" type of delivery does not hook as well as "3/4 rollers" on oily lanes.

The four extant suborders of beetle are these:. The technique of the great majority of bowlers involves a delivery that starts the ball in a skid that evolves into a roll that hooks into the pins. Beetles entered the fossil record during the Lower Permian, about 265 million years ago. In a very strict physics sense, a ball may be delivered with rotation, but usually not in a roll, because that would imply complete traction. Many species, including lady beetles and blister beetles, can secrete poisonous substances to make them unpalatable. Spinners may have very little side roll. Large ground beetles by contrast will tend to go on the attack, using their strong mandibles to forcibly persuade a predator to seek out easier prey. Semi-rollers include spin.

A number of longhorn beetles (family Cerambycidae) bear a striking resemblance to wasps, thus benefitting from a measure of protection. The pure full-roller delivery is a combination of forward- and side-roll only. These include the leaf beetles (family Chysomelidae) that have a green colouring very similair to their habitat on tree leaves. Forward-roll is rotation about the x-axis, side-roll is rotation about the y-axis and mid-roll (or spin) is rotation about the z-axis. Many employ simple camoflage to avoid being spotted by predators. For bowling, the x-axis can be assigned to a line that is parallel to the foul line, the y-axis to the line parallel to the boards, and the z-axis to the vertical. Beetles and larvae have evolved to employ a variety of different strategies for avoiding being eaten. For various formulaic purposes, physicists divide rotation into three components, assigning portions to x, y and z axes that are mutually perpendicular.

Generally the number of eggs laid is an indicator of the level of parental care subsequently employed, as they are inversely proportional. In order to continue this discussion, a systematic description of ball rotation must be introduced. There are other notable ways of caring for the eggs and young, such as those employed by leaf rollers, who bite sections of leaf causing it to curl inwards and then lay the eggs, thus protected, inside. Eventually, "dynamic balance" regulations had to be adopted. It ranges from the simple laying of eggs under a leaf to scarab beetles, which construct impressive underground structures complete with a supply of dung to house and feed their young. Materials and fabrication changes have since allowed the assembly of balls whose interior components have a much greater range of density, thereby offering a new ball choice that, in physics terms, involves the moment of inertia of a solid sphere. As befitting such a large order, the parental care between species varies widely. Then competition among ball manufacturers motivated the production of balls designed to offer more than the "static balance" tricks.

During pairing sperm cells are transferred to the female to fertilise the egg. The core was usually a uniform sphere centered inside the ball. Pairing is generally short but in some cases will last for several hours. Prior to about 1990, the USBC "static" ball balance regulations were adequate. Many beetles are territorial and will fiercly defend their small patch of territory from intruding males. It was possible to drill the grip at a location relative to the weight block so that it would achieve some effect, such as to help the bowler make it roll earlier or hook more. Conflict can play a part in the mating rituals for example in species such as burying beetles (genus Nicrophorus) where localised conflicts between males and females rage until only one of each is left, thus ensuring reproduction by the strongest and fittest. At some point in ball making and drilling the USBC introduced ball balance regulations to prevent people from taking advantage.

Smell is thought to play significant importance in the location of a mate. A ball hardness rule was established, which barred some of the softer balls. Beetles may display some extremely intricate behaviour when mating. These and balls subsequently manufactured with the resulting softer cover came under USBC scrutiny because of the increased scoring. Adults have an extremely variable lifespan, again, from weeks to years. In the early 1970s, people began experimenting with the hardness of the plastic balls, notably PBA member Don McCune, who invented the "soaker" - a plastic ball he softened "in the garage" with chemicals. The larval period of beetles varies between species but can be as long as several years. Bowling balls have been constructed with a core made of one material, a spherical coverstock ("cover" or "shell") and a "pancake" weight block of denser material intended to compensate for the gripping holes.

Predaceous diving beetles (family Dytiscidae) may be the most common example, they employ a technique of retaining air when diving between the abdomen and the elytra. Rubber balls are almost as hard to find - you may still see them offered to casual bowlers at bowling centers, from their racks for those who don't own their own ball. Various techniques are employed by many species for retaining both air and water supplies. Wood balls are now just museum pieces. The beneficial impact to the general ecology of these two activities is huge. Bowling ball materials, during the history of the USBC, have evolved from wood, to rubber, to plastic, to urethane, to reactive urethane, to particle, and to epoxy. Decaying organic matter is a primary diet for many species, this can range from dung which is consumed by coprophagous species such as the scarab beetles (family Scarabaeidae), to dead animals which are eaten by necrophagous species such as the carrion beetles (family Silphidae). A bowling ball is not an absolutely uniform sphere - the gripping holes (and sometimes a balance hole) alone make that impossible.

Ground beetles (family Carabidae) and rove beetles (family Staphylinidae) are entirely carnivorous and will catch and comsume small prey such as earthworms and snails. Other considerations have been noted with regards to the weight of the bowling pins, lane oiling techniques, and with the construction materials and techniques used to build bowling lanes. Others are generalists, eating both plants and animals. One of the most contentious issues that has arisen is whether there should be a Standard Ball for the sport of bowling, or at least whether significant restrictions should be imposed on bowling ball technology. Some beetles are highly specialised in their diet; for example, the Colorado potato beetle (Leptinotarsa decemlineata) opts almost entirely to colonize plants of the potato family (Solanaceae). Open, the USBC Masters, the PBA World Championship, and the PBA Tournament of Champions). There are few things that a beetle somewhere will not eat, even inorganic matter may be consumed. "Sport Bowling" conditions are also used at the major championships of professional bowling (the U.S.

In some cases there are several transitory larvae stages and this is known as hypermetamorphosis; examples include the blister beetles (family Meloidae). In "Sport Bowling," lane conditions are more highly regulated and controlled than in traditional leagues and the oiling patterns used are generally more even with regards to volume and ratios of oil across the surface of the lane. As with lepidoptera, beetle larvae pupate for a period, and from the pupa emerges a fully formed beetle or imago. It understandably requires higher bowler fees, and the USBC provides a separate set of honor awards. Once the egg hatches the larvae tend to feed voraciously, whether out in the open such as with Ladybird larvae, or within plants such as with leaf beetle larvae. In response to the view that higher scoring lane conditions are spoiling the integrity of the sport, the USBC introduced in 2000 the Sport Bowling Program which offers a different optional league certification. The eggs of beetles are minute but may be brightly coloured, they are laid in clumps and there may be from several dozen to several thousand eggs laid by a single female. So they have cheapened their intrinsic value and created other workarounds.

The larva of a beetle is often called a grub and represents the principal feeding stage of the life-cycle. The USBC, for various reasons, has not been able to regulate these changes well enough to protect the integrity of their honor score award program. Beetles are endopterygotes with complete metamorphosis. Honor scores have increased by several thousand percent on a per capita basis in the 25 year time period from 1980 - 2005. Although beetles have blood, it is not used for oxygen transference, although a heart is present. These and the ever present opportunity to use lane oiling patterns to make targeting easier, is a cause for concern. Pumping movements of the body force the air through the system. Those and subsequent changes have been altering the physical scoring factors.

Oxygen is taken in via a tracheal system: this takes air in through a series of tubes along the body which is then taken into increasingly finer fibres. In the early 1970s the first plastic balls became widely available, just a few years after the first urethane coatings were applied to the old wood lanes. Antennae can vary greatly and may be filiform, claviform, flabellate or genticulate. For more experienced players, notably older ones who have locked themselves into some technique that no longer works as well, it can become quite frustrating. The dorsal appendage aids the beetle in stalking prey. It can be confusing to players as they learn the game. The eyes are compound, and may display some remarkable adabtability, as in the case of the Whirligig beetles (family Gyrinidae), in which the eyes are split to allow a view both above and below the waterline. The Foundation members at that time made the statement that under the current environment in bowling they "could no longer guarantee a lane condition that would be accepted by the contestants, coaches and observers as fair and equitable." In 1989, Bob Strickland wrote that bowlers know it is possible to bowl bad but score good, or worse, to bowl good but score bad.

The bodies of beetles are divided into three sections, the head, the thorax, and the abdomen, and these in themselves may be composed of several further segments. As things started to change, an organization named "The Foundation" comprised of experienced lane maintenance experts and many distinguished bowlers, including members of the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) and the United States Bowling Congress (USBC) Halls of Fame, was founded in 1966 with the goal of addressing these serious issues. In a few families, both the ability to fly and the wing-cases have been lost, with the best known example being the "glowworms" of the family Phengodidae, in which the females are larviform throughout their lives. Historically, up until the late 1960s, the USBC honor awards (for 300 games, 800 series, etc.) were rarely won genuine treasures. After landing, the hindwings are folded below the elytra. Many advanced bowlers continually buy new improved bowling balls to try to obtain an advantage over their opponents, and all have access, at least as far as their bank accounts can go. In some cases the ability to fly has been lost, characteristically in families such as Carabidae and Curculionidae. Some argue that it unfairly effects competition.

The elytra are not used in flying, but generally must be raised in order to move the hindwings. Yet there are those who have seen their scores decline, often due to not changing their technique or balls. Beetles are generally characterised by a particularly hard exoskeleton, and the hard wing-cases (elytra) which tend to cover the hind part of the body and protect the second wings, the alae. Among advanced players, there is little argument about whether technological changes have enabled higher scoring (it has). Bearing in mind the wide diversity and number of species the anatomy of beetles is quite uniform. While low scoring can be a problem, it is the increasing frequency and degree of higher scoring that irks the purists, who say that it is spoiling the integrity of the sport. . The controversies usually involve scoreability.

Certain species are agricultural pests in some areas, for example the Colorado potato beetle (Leptinotarsa decemlineata), while other species are important controls of agricultural pests, for example the lady beetles (family Coccinellidae) consume aphids, fruit flies, thrips, and other plant-sucking insects that damage crops. Technological changes, throughout the history of the sport, often required new regulations, and this continues today, often with great debate. They have a major impact on the ecosystem in three ways: feeding on plants and fungi, breaking down animal and plant debris, and eating other invertebrates. Both are regulated by the USBC, as are the pin characteristics. Beetles can be found in almost all habitats, but are not known to occur in the sea or in the polar regions. These environmental influences can be segregated as either lane conditions or ball characteristics. Haldane, a British geneticist, was asked what his studies of nature revealed about God, he replied, "An inordinate fondness for beetles". After the ball is on the surface of the lane, a complex interaction of friction, gyroscopic inertia and gravity becomes a factor that can range from subtle to perhaps amazing.

S. In the delivery, the bowler can advantageously use or fight (intentionally or unintentionally) the force of gravity. B. The behavior of a rolling ball on a surface is controlled by several factors, the most obvious being the bowler's delivery. This is why, when J. There are similar organizations for many of the other forms of bowling. Estimates put the total number of species — described and undescribed — at between 5 and 8 million. The USBC is a 2005 merger of three older ten-pin bowling organizations: the American Bowling Congress (ABC, formed 1895), the Women's International Bowling Congress (WIBC, 1916) and the Youth American Bowling Alliance(YABA).

Forty percent of all described insect species are beetles (about 350,000 species), and new species are regularly discovered. It also provides several achievement and high score (honor) awards. Their order, Coleoptera (meaning "sheathed wing"), has more species in it than any other order in the entire animal kingdom. The USBC provides standard sets of rules for the play of the game, equipment and other things. Beetles are one of the main groups of insects. League and tournament ten-pin bowling groups in the United States have the option to be certified by the United States Bowling Congress (USBC). The Coleopterist (UK). Joining a league to compete with others is an experience that often motivates players to improve.

Harde, A Field Guide in Colour to Beetles ISBN 0706419375 Pages 7-24. There is a lot more to bowling than the novice player can appreciate. W. Many professional bowlers engage in exercises like resistance training and jogging in order to sustain their stamina for long tournaments. K. Those who excel at bowling will usually consider it a sport because improving your abilities is a challenge requiring a great deal of practice and even study. Thomas, American Beetles (CRC Press, 2001-2). Nevertheless, bowling, like golf, obviously does not require running.

and Michael C. It requires hand-eye coordination and techniques just as fine as in other sports where players are required to propel an object toward a target, such as in golf, baseball, basketball and hockey. Arnett, Jr. There is disagreement over whether bowling should be regarded as a sport. Ross H. Included in the outdoor category:. Engel, Evolution of the Insects ISBN 0521821495. Here the players throw a ball, which is sometimes eccentrically weighted, in an attempt to put it closest to a designated point.

David Grimaldi, Michael S. The second category of bowling is usually played outdoors on a lawn. Entomological Society of America, Beetle Larvae of the World ISBN 0643055061. In ten-pin bowling, a building containing many lanes has traditionally been called a bowling "alley" but in more recent times, to upgrade the image of the sport, bowling "center" is preferred. Poul Beckmann, Living Jewels: The Natural Design of Beetles ISBN 3791325280. Beginning about 1980, most ten-pin lane surfaces have been converted to or built with a synthetic material imitating a wooden surface. Large ground beetles (family Carabidae) are predators of caterpillars and, on occasion, adult weevils, whereas smaller species attack eggs, small caterpillars, and other pest insects. For nearly a century, ten-pin bowling lanes had a surface made of wood.

While both adult and larval lady beetles found on crops prefer aphids, they will, if aphids are scarce, use food from other sources, such as small caterpillars, young plant bugs, aphid honeydew, and plant nectar. Included in the indoor category:. The larvae of lady beetles (family Coccinellidae) are often found in aphid colonies. Most indoor forms are played on a "lane", a flat surface made of wood or a synthetic imitation, which is several times longer than it is wide. Citrus long-horned beetle. Most forms of bowling may be categorized as either indoor or outdoor. Asian long-horned beetle. The best bowler of all time is regarded to be Adam Laskey of Fargo, North Dakota, USA.

It is most usual for death watch beetle attacks to originate in timber of large dimensions, and it is thought that the actual introduction of the pest into buildings takes place at the time of construction. Bowling was popular in the time of King Henry VIII in England. It attacks hardwoods such as oak and chestnut, and always where some fungal decay has taken or is taking place. Primitive forms of bowling have been played as early as 3200 BC in Egypt, 200 BC in Germany and 1100AD in England. The death watch beetle (Xestobium rufovillosum) is of some considerable importance as a pest of wooden structures in older buildings in Britain. . The spread of the fungus by the beetle has led to the devastastation of elm trees in many parts of the Northern Hemisphere, notably North America and Europe. This form, in both amateur and professional versions, is played around the world, making it one of the largest participation sports available.

They are important elm pests because they carry Dutch elm disease (the fungus Ophiostoma ulmi) as they move from infected breeding sites to feed on healthy elm trees. Probably the best known form today is the American game of Ten-pin bowling. The elm bark beetles, Hylurgopinus rufipes and Scolytus multistriatus (in the family Scolytidae) attack elm trees. There are many forms of bowling, and the earliest known form has been dated back to ancient Egypt. Crops are destroyed and the beetle can only be treated by employing expensive pesticides, many of which it has begun to develop immunity to. Bowling is a game in which players attempt to score points by rolling a ball along a surface to knock down objects called pins. As well as potatoes, this can be any one of a number of plants from the potato family (Solanaceae) such as nightshade, tomato, aubergine and capsicum. Swing bowling.

Adults mate before overwintering deep in the soil, so that when they emerge the following spring, females can lay eggs immediately, once a suitable host plant has been found. Spin bowling. The Colorado potato beetle (Leptinotarsa decemlineata) is a notorious pest of potato plants. Seam bowling. Myxophaga contains about 100 described species in four families, mostly very small, including skiff beetles (Hydroscaphidae) and minute bog beetles (Sphaeriusidae). Off spin. Archostemata contains four families of mainly wood-eating beetles, including reticulated beetles (Cupedidae) and telephone-pole beetles (Micromalthidae). Leg spin.

In these beetles the testes are tubular and the first abdominal sternum (a plate of the exoskeleton) is divided by the hind coxae (the basal joints of the beetle's legs). Left-arm unorthodox spin. Adephaga contains about 10 families of predatory beetles, includes ground beetles (Carabidae), predacious diving beetles (Dytiscidae) and whirligig beetles (Gyrinidae). Left-arm orthodox spin. These beetles can be identified by the cervical sclerites (hardened parts of the head used as points of attachment for muscles) absent in the other suborders. Fast bowling. Polyphaga is the largest suborder, containing more than 300,000 described species in more than 170 families, including rove beetles (Staphylinidae), scarab beetles (Scarabaeidae), blister beetles (Meloidae), stag beetles (Lucanidae), and true weevils (Curculionidae). Pétanque.

Bocce. Lawn bowls. Cocked Hat. Feather Bowling (Belgian trough bowling) originated in Belgium and is played in Detroit and Mount Clemens, Michigan.

Duckpin bowling, commonly found in the mid-Atlantic and northeastern United States and eastern Canada, is a variation of ten-pin bowling involving small, squat pins, sometimes with rubber at their widest points (rubber band duckpin bowling). Candlepin bowling, played in eastern Canada and New England, is a variation of ten-pin bowling. Nine-pin skittles. Five-pin bowling, played in Canada.

Ten-pin bowling, which evolved from ninepin bowling in the 19th Century.