Purdue Ag Roundup
Purdue Ag Roundup
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- Jay Leno will get up close and personal with some of the more exotic insects on the planet when Purdue University entomologist Linda Mason shows up with Australian walking sticks, giant Madagascar hissing cockroaches and other creepy crawlies.
Leno also will have a chance to munch some caterpillar crunch and perhaps spit a cricket Wednesday, May 14, for a national audience on NBC's "Tonight Show."
Mason is scheduled to be the second guest on the show, after "Lois and Clark" co-star Terri Hatcher. To avoid confusing the two women, Mason will be the one covered in cockroaches, sticks with legs and a few assorted arthropods.
Jolie Ancel, the "Tonight Show's" segment producer who scans the country for the 6-year-old karate champion and the 100-year-old Avon Lady, said they were on the lookout for a woman insect expert after they saw a Wall Street Journal article on Purdue's Bug Bowl. This year's insectaganza drew 12,000 people to the West Lafayette campus for two days of roach races, Olympic-style cricket spitting, insect art and other entomological inanities.
"We thought it would be weird and fun," Ancel said. "And we wanted a woman because you don't really think of girls and insects going together." But then she noted that she's the critter crusher and the one with the strong stomach in her relationship.
For Mason, who researches ways to keep insects out of food products, it's a chance to interest more people in a life form that competes with humans for sustenance, shelter and living space. "They also outnumber us," Mason said. "It's probably in most people's best interest to learn more about them."
It's also a chance to highlight science and nature on a top-rated national television show. "It just shows that if you study hard, like what you do and appreciate the natural world around you, fun things happen," Mason said.
Since Mason won't be able to travel with the insects -- too many U.S. Department of Agriculture permits involved -- the bugs will be flying tourist class to Los Angeles from Indianapolis on Monday, May 12, met by a limo and whisked to a room at the Beverly Hills Hilton, courtesy of the "Tonight Show," Ancel said.
Although they probably won't be the only insects on the plane and in the hotel, they're certain to be the only ones with an expense account. They don't have an agent, either. There's a limit to how low even a bug can go, Mason said.
CONTACTS: Mason, (561) 791-2837
Ancel, (818) 840-2259
The new three-day event -- 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. July 31-Aug. 2 at a farm near Shelbyville -- is about taking care of and protecting the land and about solving problems for landowners. In addition to the Purdue Cooperative Extension Service, the Land Improvement Contractors Association, U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service, and the Indiana Ground Water Association will provide displays at the event.
Purdue demonstrations will include building a home septic system; foundation drains; water and watershed management; forest planting and care; and lawn and gardening demonstrations.
In addition, people visiting the Indiana Land Care Exposition can bring well-water samples for a free quick test. They also can bring weeds or plants for analysis or identification. Specialists from Purdue's Plant and Pest Diagnostic Laboratory will provide the weed and plant problem identification; specialists and Extension educators will assist well owners with the water samples.
The Indiana Land Care Exposition will be held on the Jeff and Trisha Stevens farm, southeast of Shelbyville along Interstate 74 near Exit 123.
For more information, contact a Purdue Cooperative Extension Service county office or call 1-888-EXT-INFO (888-398-4636).
CONTACTS: Dave Petritz, Extension Service assistant director for agriculture and natural
resources, (765) 494-8494
Don Sission, executive director, Indiana LICA, (317) 349-1935
Compiled by Chris Sigurdson, (765) 494-8415; E-mail, sig@ecn.purdue.edu
Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; e-mail, purduenews@purdue.edu
