Spider Fighting

The sport of spider fighting occurs in different forms in several areas of the world. Among them are the Philippines, Japan, and Singapore. The fights that occur in the Philippines and in Japan are staged between females of various species of web weavers. Female spiders will kill a rival if the loser does not quickly flee or receive the aid of a human handler. The contests that are staged in Singapore are fights between male jumping spiders. The males fight only for dominance, and ordinarily the loser will flee, though sometimes they will lose a leg in the fight.

In the Philippines, spider fighting (Hiligaynon: pahibag sang damang; Cebuano: paaway kaka or sabong sa kaka) is staged between female orb-weavers from the genus Araneus. In Japan, the contests occur at an annual festival and use females of the genus Argiope. In Japanese these contests are called Kumo Gassen (spider battles). In Singapore, they use males of the genus Thiania, and most commonly use the species Thiania bhamoensis, although another species of that genus may sometimes be used. Like cock fighting, spider fighting is a sport that usually involves betting and events occur frequently. In Singapore, they are known as "fighting spiders" in English and 鬥蜘蛛 dòu zhī zhū （fighting spiders) in Chinese, analogous to the Chinese term for gamecocks 鬥雞 dòu jī (fighting chickens).