Do Honeybees and Gangs Divide Turf in the Same Way?

Professor Jeffrey Brantigan thinks they just might:

Honeybees and hyenas stake out territory over a pretty obvious scarce resource: food. But why might gangs do the same? Brantingham and colleagues Martin B. Short, George E. Tita and Shannon E. Reid suggest in a paper published online this week in the journal Criminology that they’re motivated by a similar limited resource: reputation.

“Ultimately, what’s being competed for is your good name, or street credibility, your street rep,” says Brantingham, who was the lead author of the paper. “If people recognize you as the toughest person around, then that has all sorts of benefits.” (And, of course, more tangible benefits accrue from reputation, too.)