Welcome home, creepy crawlies

By Emilie Bauer
Journal & Courier
Thursday, January 26, 2006

(By Michael Heinz/Journal and Courier) Ashley Walter, a graduate student at Purdue University, examines some of the displays in the Boiler Bug Barn Wednesday in West Lafayette. The Bug Barn, which opened last week, has displays ranging from mounted insects to T-shirts from past Purdue Bug Bowls.

Venu Margam is impressed with not only the sites of Purdue University's new Boiler Bug Barn, but the recorded chirping as well.

"It sounds more like a tropical forest," said Margam, who is pursuing a doctorate in entomology.

But the Bug Barn, which opened to the public last week, may sound like a tropical jungle, but it's only as far away as Room 124 in Purdue's Smith Hall. The former classroom is crammed floor to ceiling with displays ranging from mounted monarch butterflies to T-shirts from past Purdue Bug Bowls.

Tom Turpin, a Purdue entomology professor and co-founder of the world-famous Bug Bowl, helped set up the room and said the exhibit grew out of requests to see live insects.

The Purdue Bug Bowl offers the public that opportunity for one weekend in April every year. Since its inception in 1991, the Bug Bowl has featured cockroach races, a live insect petting zoo, cricket-spitting contests, displays and other activities.

Rather than bringing interested people into research labs and disturbing the work of professors and students during the rest of the year, the department took displays that had lined the hallways of Smith Hall and condensed them into one exhibit.

The displays -- including an enclosed bee hive and a globe pointing out invasive insects that have become pests -- come from various sources.

"Most of the 'junk' is mine," said Turpin, referring to items such as insect-shaped salt and pepper shakers.

Ashley Walter, a masters student in entomology, appreciates the change.

"I used to see all this stuff in the hallway and it looks so much better in there," said Walter.

The room is far from complete. Turpin would like to add another bee hive, some hornet nests and a display geared toward kids titled "Creatures under the Sink."

Entomology department head Steve Yaninek also wants to provide age-appropriate information for groups who come for a tour. He is glad to have another way to reach out to younger students.

"We've been looking for the opportunity to create a focal point for outreach and science education," said Yaninek.

Walter's favorite part is the Bug Bowl logo made of mounted insects found within 100 yards of Turpin's house in a farm community southwest of the university. Turpin hopes people will look at the logo and other displays and realize how many insects are around them all the time.

He also wants people to see new things each time they tour the room.

"I hope people come in and look around and say, 'Did you see that?' " he said.