Those college cafeteria horror stories must be true, just take a look at what’s on the menu at Purdue University: teriyaki meal worms, caterpillar crunch, and, for those with a sweet tooth — chocolate covered crickets on a stick and chocolate chirpy cookies. We’re only kidding – it’s all part of the fun at the Bug Bowl, a part of Purdue University’s annual Spring Fest.
johnnyalive/johnny klemme
Colleges and universities usually have their own fun and unique traditions – and we have to say that the Bug Bowl is definitely original to Purdue! It all started twenty years ago in Dr. Tom Turpin’s Entomology 105 class. We went straight to the source. Dr. Turpin shared, “It was supposed to be an opportunity to see how fast cockroaches could run. A twist of fate intervened.”
“A radio guy came into my office to get the latest corn rootworm insecticide recommendations (I am a corn entomologist) and spied the marked cockroaches and asked what was going on. He went back to the radio station and announced that they were having cockroach races at Purdue tonight and invited the listeners to drop in. So to our surprise some 150 community members showed up.”
A year later it turned into a community friendly event with an “official” racetrack, the RoachHill Downs, and names for the racing cockroaches like “Fluttering Antennae” and “Seattle Sewer.” Insect displays, honey tasting, the caterpillar canter (a six legged race – how fun is that!), and insects as food demonstrations rounded out the event – and lured in 1300 people.
The Purdue Bug Bowl joined with the Department of Horticulture’s Hort Show and has since incorporated many other college departments, merging into what is now known as Spring Fest! Today, the Bug Bowl draws in 30,000 people – and has a host of activities: cricket spitting, robotic beetle battles, an insect petting zoo (haven’t you always wanted to hold an anthropod?), The Insect Follies, and street puppets.
Randy Cox
If insects are your “thing,” The Bug Bowl at Spring Fest sounds like a good time – and a great way — to check out Purdue University’s Entomology program, one of the few colleges that even offer an Entomology degree — and possibly grab something squirming yummy to snack on.
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Tags: bug bowl, Choosing a Major, college campus, college campus tour, college campus visit, College Life, college majors, department of horticulture, entomology, horticulture, insects, insects as food, purdue university, roachhill downs, robotic beetle battles, spring fest
