Purdue Celebrates ‘All Things Bugs’ at 15th Annual Bug Bowl

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — A crowd of about 45,000 visited Purdue University April 16-17 to participate in the 15th annual Bug Bowl – the centerpiece of the college’s Spring Fest. This year’s event was lead-sponsored by Terminix.

Highlights from the event included roach races and a contest in which participants competed against one another to determine who could "projectile spit" frozen crickets the greatest distance. In addition to conventional cockroach derbies, the Bug Bowl featured cockroach harness racing, in which Madagascar hissing cockroaches, equipped with harnesses, pulled matchbox-type cars. 

Also, an insect petting zoo gave attendees an opportunity for up-close encounters with tarantualas, millipedes, walking sticks and other creepy crawlers.

“The event has continued to grow in popularity each year,” said Tom Turpin, professor of entomology at Purdue University and emcee of the event. “It now attracts people from other  Midwest states and one year we even had someone from California fly in to participate in the cricket-spitting contest.”

Added Steve Good, vice-president and chief marketing officer of  Terminix International. “It was really remarkable to see thousands of people lined up to spit frozen crickets. Both kids and adults exuded a lot of enthusiasm, interest and excitement for the entire event and Terminix was very pleased to be lead sponsor.”

Other noteworthy activities included insect face painting, insect displays, insect crafts, an insect petting zoo, exotic insect observation zoo and an insect-inspired cake decorating contest.

While Bug Bowl is certainly the No. 1 attraction of Spring Fest, the event is a campus-wide affair. Spring Fest began in the Bug Bowl’s second year when Purdue’s Department of Horticulture and its School of Veterinary Medicine combined their open houses/showcases with Bug Bowl. The event has continued to expand and now nearly each of Purdue’s colleges participates in the event, according to Turpin. Attendees of the two-day event get hands-on exposure to forestry, physics, food, flowers, and more. For example, this was the first year in which the Purdue Department of Statistics tallied up the results from the cricket-spitting contest.