Big Blue Bug Solutions is an extermination business located in

Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts ...

that services southeastern

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the Can ...

.New England Pest Control web page: �

” URL accessed on June 24, 2007 The company is known for its mascot, Nibbles Woodaway (also known as the

Big Blue Bug The Big Blue Bug, also known as Nibbles Woodaway, is the giant termite mascot of Big Blue Bug Solutions located along I-95 in Providence, Rhode Island. It is claimed to be the world's largest artificial bug at 928 times the size of an actual termi ...

), a giant blue

termite Termites are small insects that live in colonies and have distinct castes (eusocial) and feed on wood or other dead plant matter. Termites comprise the infraorder Isoptera, or alternatively the epifamily Termitoidae, within the order Blatto ...

that stands atop its office next to

I-95 Interstate 95 (I-95) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, running from US Route 1 (US 1) in Miami, Florida, to the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing between Maine and the Canadia ...

in Providence. The company provides pest control services to both residential and commercial properties, and uses ecologically safe products, and has been recognized for promoting the use of

integrated pest management Integrated pest management (IPM), also known as integrated pest control (IPC) is a broad-based approach that integrates both chemical and non-chemical practices for economic control of pests. IPM aims to suppress pest populations below the econ ...

in schools to protect student safety. It is also known for aiding Providence during the city's rat epidemic, and was an early adopter of converting trucks to run on natural gas. Big Blue Bug Solutions has also sponsored

Little League Little League Baseball and Softball (officially, Little League Baseball Inc) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area and the seventh-least populous, with slightly fewer than 1.1 million residents as of 2020, but it ...

. Originally named New England Pest Control, the company changed its name to Big Blue Bug Solutions in 2012 because of its mascot. Historically,

pest control Pest control is the regulation or management of a species defined as a pest; any animal, plant or fungus that impacts adversely on human activities or environment. The human response depends on the importance of the damage done and will range ...

companies generally advertised that their exterminators would arrive in unmarked vehicles so as to ensure that neighbors would not realize that a residence had a pest problem. Big Blue Bug Solutions was one of the first companies to mark all of its vehicles and attempt to remove the stigma from having a pest problem. Today, nearly all exterminators use marked vehicles. Due to the prominence of the Big Blue Bug and the building's location at a high-traffic portion of the highway (near Thurbers Avenue Curve), many organizations request to have their banners hung in front of the Bug. Big Blue Bug Solutions will let

non-profit organizations A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

hang their banners on a first-come, first-served basis, with groups needing to file a request at least two years in advance. Some of the many organizations that have placed banners in front of the Bug include

Make-A-Wish Foundation The Make-A-Wish Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in the United States that helps fulfill the wishes of children with a critical illness between the ages of and 18 years old. Make-A-Wish was founded in 1980 and headqu ...

Special Olympics Special Olympics is the world's largest sports organization for children and adults with intellectual disabilities and physical disabilities, providing year-round training and activities to 5 million participants and Unified Sports partners in ...

, American Heart Association, and Girl Scouts of the USA.

Notable employees

Tony DeJesus began his career at New England Pest Control twenty-nine years ago as a service technician, and subsequently worked his way up to his current position of Service Manager. He is a nationally recognized expert in the field of structural pest management. DeJesus has been a keynote presenter at numerous pest control conferences throughout the United States, and conducts his own training program for the Rhode Island Department of Health and Division of Agriculture. Every Saturday morning at 7am, DeJesus hosts '' The New England Pest Control Show'' on News/Talk 630 WPRO, during which he answers listener questions about pest control, although the show occasionally delves into other topics, such as

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

, as DeJesus is also a renowned expert on the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...

. Clarence Cornell and Darryll – Clarence was the official handler of Darryll, a dog trained to detect termites and other insects. The pair were covered by a wide variety of media outlets, and were noted for their accuracy of pest detection.Kimberly Shearin, ''Termite-Sniffing Dog Detects Pests By Smell And Hearing'', Houston Chronicle, Nov. 24, 1988, at G1.''Pooches Perform Jobs That No One Else Can'', Worcester Telegram & Gazette, February 26, 1989, at B8. Upon turning 8, Darryll retired to live as Clarence's pet.

Notes

External links

{{coord, 41, 48, 25.6, N, 71, 24, 20.8, W, type:landmark_region:US_dim:46, display=title Companies based in Providence, Rhode Island Insect control