Spider fighting (
HiligaynonHiligaynon is an Austronesian language spoken in Western Visayas in the Philippines. Hiligaynon is concentrated in the provinces of Iloilo and Negros Occidental...
:
pahibag sang damang;
CebuanoCebuano is an Austronesian language spoken in the Philippines by about 20 million people. It is the most widely spoken member of the Visayan languages. Its name comes from the island of Cebu, the site of the second-largest metropolitan area in the country...
:
paaway kaka) is a popular
blood sportBloodsport or blood sport is any sport or entertainment that involves violence against animals.Bloodsport includes coursing or beagling, combat sports such as cockfighting, or other activities...
among
ruralRural areas are large and isolated areas of a country, often with low population density.About 91 percent of the rural population now earn salaried incomes, often in urban areas...
FilipinoThe Filipino people are the nationals of the Republic of the Philippines and to persons having Filipino ancestry. There are about 92 million Filipinos in the Philippines and about 11 million outside the Philippines....
children. The game begins by placing two
spiderSpiders are air-breathing chelicerate arthropods that have eight legs, and chelicerae modified into fangs that inject venom. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species diversity among all other groups of organisms...
s at opposite ends of a stick from a
walis ting-ting (a broom made from the midribs of
coconutThe Coconut Palm is a member of the family Arecaceae . It is the only species in the genus Cocos, and is a large palm, growing to 30 m tall, with pinnate leaves 4–6 m long, pinnae 60–90 cm long; old leaves break away cleanly leaving the trunk smooth. The term coconut refers to the seed of the...
leaves). The spiders are then led to one another until they wrestle. The first one to drop off the stick loses. Top fighters can fetch up to 100 pesos (US$ 2), making the sport lucrative for children.
The spiders are usually caught in trees and bushes, although some favor those found spinning
websA spider web, spiderweb, spider's web or cobweb is a device built by a spider out of proteinaceous spider silk extruded from its spinnerets.Insects can get trapped in spider webs, providing nutrition to the spider; however, not all spiders build...
along
power linesElectric power transmission is the bulk transfer of electrical energy, a process in the delivery of electricity to consumers. A power transmission network typically connects power plants to multiple substations near a populated area...
.
Spider fighting (
HiligaynonHiligaynon is an Austronesian language spoken in Western Visayas in the Philippines. Hiligaynon is concentrated in the provinces of Iloilo and Negros Occidental...
:
pahibag sang damang;
CebuanoCebuano is an Austronesian language spoken in the Philippines by about 20 million people. It is the most widely spoken member of the Visayan languages. Its name comes from the island of Cebu, the site of the second-largest metropolitan area in the country...
:
paaway kaka) is a popular
blood sportBloodsport or blood sport is any sport or entertainment that involves violence against animals.Bloodsport includes coursing or beagling, combat sports such as cockfighting, or other activities...
among
ruralRural areas are large and isolated areas of a country, often with low population density.About 91 percent of the rural population now earn salaried incomes, often in urban areas...
FilipinoThe Filipino people are the nationals of the Republic of the Philippines and to persons having Filipino ancestry. There are about 92 million Filipinos in the Philippines and about 11 million outside the Philippines....
children. The game begins by placing two
spiderSpiders are air-breathing chelicerate arthropods that have eight legs, and chelicerae modified into fangs that inject venom. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species diversity among all other groups of organisms...
s at opposite ends of a stick from a
walis ting-ting (a broom made from the midribs of
coconutThe Coconut Palm is a member of the family Arecaceae . It is the only species in the genus Cocos, and is a large palm, growing to 30 m tall, with pinnate leaves 4–6 m long, pinnae 60–90 cm long; old leaves break away cleanly leaving the trunk smooth. The term coconut refers to the seed of the...
leaves). The spiders are then led to one another until they wrestle. The first one to drop off the stick loses. Top fighters can fetch up to 100 pesos (US$ 2), making the sport lucrative for children.
Harvesting and care
The spiders are usually caught in trees and bushes, although some favor those found spinning
websA spider web, spiderweb, spider's web or cobweb is a device built by a spider out of proteinaceous spider silk extruded from its spinnerets.Insects can get trapped in spider webs, providing nutrition to the spider; however, not all spiders build...
along
power linesElectric power transmission is the bulk transfer of electrical energy, a process in the delivery of electricity to consumers. A power transmission network typically connects power plants to multiple substations near a populated area...
. These are believed to be more aggressive and much tougher fighters since spiders that live in areas exposed to predators fight better than those that live in secluded isolation. Spiders with slender bodies and long legs are also favored as better fighters. Slim, black spiders from
guavaGuavas are plants in the myrtle family genus Psidium, which contains about 100 species of tropical shrubs and small trees. They are native to Mexico, Central America and northern South America...
or
tamarindThe Tamarind is a tree in the family Fabaceae. The genus Tamarindus is monotypic .- Origin :...
trees are also prized as fighters. After capture or fighting, the spiders are stabled in used matchboxes. These matchboxes usually have separate cells to house different spiders. Spiders can be fed with insects although some trainers, especially adults, have their own secret feed formula. Prior to a match, the spider might be intentionally starved to increase its ferocity.
Legal and moral issues
The practice is now generally discouraged since it affects the educational performance of school children. They could spend so much time hunting and training spiders that lessons and homework are missed. Adults also play the sport but in a way similar to cockfighting. Derbies are also held and bets could go as high as 30,000
pesosThe peso is the currency of the Philippines. It is subdivided into 100 centavos or sentimo . Before 1967, the language used on the banknotes and coins was English and so "peso" was the name used...
(about US$638). The cheaper maintenance cost of raising spiders compared to raising fighting cocks caused some players to switch to spider fighting.
Ordinances against the sport are now in effect in some cities. The sport might also be indirectly responsible for crop damage since spiders are useful in controlling insect pest populations. The spider derby is treated as a threat to public morals in
Negros OccidentalNegros Occidental is a province of the Philippines located in the Western Visayas region. Its capital is Bacolod City and occupies at the northwestern half of Negros island; Negros Oriental is at the southeastern half...
province. Bets as high as P50,000 (US$900) were being placed in Aidsisa,
Silay CitySilay City is a 2nd class city in the province of Negros Occidental, Philippines. According to the 2000 census, it had a population of 107,722 people in 21,446 households...
. The
Bacolod CityBacolod City is the capital and largest highly urbanized mid-size Philippine city of the province of Negros Occidental. Having a total of 499,497 inhabitants as of August 1, 2007, it is the most populous city in the Western Visayas Region. It is notable for its MassKara Festival held during October...
police provincial director issued an order warning residents of participating in a form of illegal gambling. In Cudangdang village in
EB MagalonaEnrique B. Magalona is a 3rd class municipality in the province of Negros Occidental, Philippines. According to the 2000 census, it has a population of 54,490 people in 10,498 households.-Barangays:...
town, spiders were sold from P20 to P100 per box, and most buyers come from Bacolod City and Silay City. In the spider derby, the combatant that falls three times from a wooden stick loses; one that wraps its opponent in
silkSpider silk, also known as gossamer, is a protein fiber spun by spiders. Spiders use their silk to make webs or other structures, which function as nets to catch other animals, or as nests or cocoons for protection for their offspring...
is declared the champion.
Species
One species used for spider derbies in
SingaporeSingapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island city-state located at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, lying north of the equator, south of the Malaysian state of Johor and north of Indonesia's Riau Islands. At , Singapore is a microstate and the smallest nation in Southeast...
is
Thiania bhamoensisThiania bhamoensis is a species of jumping spider.-Description:The species is iridescent green-blue. Females are more green, males more blue.From the front view, the female's face are black...
, a
jumping spiderThe jumping spider family contains more than 500 described genera and over 5,000 species, making it the largest family of spiders with about 13% of all species. Jumping spiders have good vision and use it for hunting and navigating. They are capable of jumping from place to place, secured by a...
, also called the "Fighting spider". The local spiders used in the
PhilippinesThe Philippines officially known as the Republic of the Philippines, is a country in Southeast Asia with Manila as its capital city. It comprises 7,107 islands in the western Pacific Ocean....
, however, have a coloration ranging from ash-gray, light brown, reddish-brown to black, dissimilar from
Thiania bhamoensiss green-blue hue. The Filipino fighting spiders resemble European garden spiderThe European garden spider , diadem spider, or cross spider, is a very common and well-known orb-weaver spider in Western Europe...
s.
Other forms
An annual spider fighting contest called Kumo Gassen is held in
Kajiki, Kagoshimais a town located in Aira District, Kagoshima, Japan. It is located north of the city of Kagoshima. Kajiki is located on the northern part of the bay. Kagoshima Airport is to the north....
,
Japanis an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. The spiders used in this contest appear to belong to the genus
ArgiopeThe genus Argiope includes rather large and spectacular spiders that have often a strikingly coloured abdomen. These are well distributed throughout the world, and most countries in temperate or warmer climates have one or more species, which look similar....
.