Japanese kids somehow manage to offload the shittiest bits of their pop culture on to us while keeping the best stuff for themselves. While we're stuck playing Pokémon cards, they've only gone and invented the best game in playground history. It's called bug fights and it's such a huge craze that certain beetle species are becoming endangered because of it. Our friend Kyle Benzle has taken the radness of bug fights and poured awesome all over it. His website, Japanese Bug Fights, pits powerful, exotic insects against each other in a terrarium. Turns out watching a praying mantis trying to kill a giant hornet is one of the most compelling things you will ever see. We asked Kyle to tell us a bit more about insect cage-rage...
What made you start the website?
Beetle fighting is incredibly popular with kids in Japan right now. I didn't know of anyone else doing other insects so it just seemed like the next thing to do. We wanted to try something new.
Who is your favourite?
The hornet is by far my favourite fighter. Always has been.
Who is the champ?
The locust is the ultimate champion. No one can beat the locust. He is the only one to never lose.
Are you saying a swarm of locusts is more deadly than an army of scorpions?
One locust would be more powerful than an army of scorpions. The locust, even though it is my least favorite, is the true champion for a very good reason. From the beginning of the agricultural revolution through to the Judeo-Christian Biblical stories, the locust struck the fear of God into all who listened. The locust is feared and hated. The locust is a deadly and unmerciful killer. The locust has no remorse and only one desire: the desire for destruction and to continue the endless march of entropy into the future.
That sounds rad.
I love it. It's just very interesting to see these insects up so close and to be doing what they do best; doing what they have evolved to do over millions of years.
amazing!
Posted by: zing | 04/02/2008 at 14:59
I keep some invertebrates (tarantulas and stag beetles) and this is cruel, stupid and depressing. Can't you find something better to do for your own amusement?
Posted by: scolopendra | 04/02/2008 at 17:23
this sucks.
i dont think its cool to be killing anything like this.
its like little boys pulling the wings off flies.
even tho that quote about the locust & its "endless march of entropy into the future" is fucking cool, this is still a shitty article.
Posted by: moi | 05/02/2008 at 02:04
I am now going to research Locusts and find out what sweet skills they possess
Posted by: jape | 05/02/2008 at 10:46
lol
Posted by: lol | 08/02/2008 at 11:59
Whoever thinks this is cool probably thinks that organized dog fighting is good. Can you imagine the uproar if someone put a Bengal Tiger into a cage with a Grizzly bear and incited them to fight? But because it's Insects and Arachnids nobody cares... least of all the hypocrites at PETA!
Posted by: A Scientist | 20/05/2008 at 22:10
Which one is the locust? That black beetle seems to always win.
Whoever is bitching about bugs killing bugs, lol get a life haha
Posted by: Mike | 03/06/2008 at 06:28
We can all rest easy knowing that none of these insects are our size . If they were , we would be extinct in a matter of days !
Posted by: Person | 13/06/2008 at 05:31