The practice of spider-wrestling in Northern Mindanao, Philippines: its implications to spider diversity

Le résumé fourni par la source

Spiders that are used as game or wrestling animals in the Philippines are called derby spiders. This study describes the details of spider wrestling sport in Northern Mindanao through profiling of gamer-respondents and constructing age structures of species commonly used in spider wrestling. Results showed that the higher the income of gamer-respondents, the bigger is the bet placed. Gamer-respondents have certain practices to prepare spiders for the game. Ten species of spiders from family Araneidae were identified to be used in the spider wrestling sport. Neoscona vigilans (60.19%) and Neoscona punctigera (32.87%) were the most commonly used species for spider fighting in all areas sampled. Only female spiders, mostly mature females of reproductive age, are used as derby spiders. The population of the most common derby spiders appears to be declining based on the constructed age structure.

Ce résumé expose les affirmations des auteurs. BNTIC ne l’interprète pas comme une validation indépendante des résultats.