What Sociobiologists Study

Abstract

Abstract When a male tarantula hawk spends hours every day of its short adult life perching alertly on a paloverde tree, ever ready to dash out to meet intruders and challenge them to an elaborate aerial contest, the obvious question is, Why? What’s the point? As noted earlier, sociobiologists find this kind of question intriguing. They wish to understand why organisms like the tarantula hawk come with special attributes that seem designed to achieve particular social goals. What makes the tarantula hawk male especially interesting is the obvious costliness of its actions, the clear survival disadvantages associated with its particular brand of social behavior. Males spend hours and hours on their territories, and yet they almost never encounter females. By the end of a couple of weeks, the males’ wings are faded and worn from the wear and tear of their repeated flights out and back to their perches. In two more weeks, if they survive even that long, the wasps are barely able to fly. Why do it this way? What reproductive benefits come from territorial possession that might counterbalance the costs to survival that come with (defending) the territory?