Insect fighting

Forms of insect fighting as spectator sport are practiced in regions of China, Japan, Vietnam, and Thailand. Some types have a long history; for example, cricket fighting is a traditional Chinese pastime that dates back to the Tang Dynasty (618–907). Originally an indulgence of emperors, cricket fighting later became popular among commoners.[2] Beetle fighting, with such beetles as the Japanese rhinoceros beetle, Xylotrupes socrates, Dorcus titanus, Goliathus, and dynastinae beetles also occurs, especially in Japan.[3][4] There is also an online fan community, watching those fights in videos on different platforms.[1] A YouTube community also strives in creating content for insect fighting.

Japanese Bug Fights (世界最強虫王決定戦)[5][6] refers to a more than 58-part video series featuring various kinds of insects, arachnids, and other creatures battling to the death in a little plastic arena. There are only two bugs to a fight and most fights end with one bug killing their opponent. In some cases, the fights end in a draw if neither bug is able to kill their opponent.

The Chinese Cricket Championships is a competition where the best cricket fighters go to Beijing to prove who is the best cricket fighter. The contest goes on for two days and usually takes place during autumn because that is when crickets are said to be at their prime age. This competition is much different than regular street cricket fighting because much investment goes into making sure the crickets can perform at their best. It is said that the crickets are given a diet of bean paste and water that helps with their training.[7] How the competition works is each cricket is divided into weight classes much like how fighters are divided in boxing and in UFC.

On YouTube there are some channels that offer insect fighting for entertainment. These videos offer a wide variety of different insects that fight each other so you'll have scorpions fighting ants all for the purpose of seeing how the insects react to each other. One of the channels called "Insect TV" sits at around 16,000 subscribers and there most viewed video has over 3 million with a Japanese Giant Hornet vs European Wasps Fight[8] .There are many other videos that resemble old Japanese game shows where there is exciting music and overdramatic editing with channels like V for Venom.[8]

Insect fighting attracts gambling that ranges from little bets to large scale type of bets depending where the fighting takes place. The entry-level to insect fighting is very low as all you need is to get a cricket, spider, or anything that can fight just to enter. It is a low-risk high reward in terms of investment. With the territory however there is crime and unfortunate deaths that occur as well.

In November of 2018 according to an article by the New York Post, an underground fighting ring was discovered in a casino and bets there went up to 140,000 dollars and two arrests were made.[9]

In the Philippines there has been reported fights that have caused casualties due to disputes over the betting from the spider fights. A 15 year old stabbed to death a 13 year old over an unpaid debt that only amounted to 10 cents, and another incident where a man was killed and another injured when shots were fired after a dispute over the winnings.

• Spider fighting