Termites

 

For weeks now we have been travelling through termite country.  Their hills vary in colour and size according to the ground they are on, and in size and shape.  The biggest we have seen was about 12ft tall, in the Litchfield National Park.  Some of the mounds here are oriented magnetically and are plate-like, to maximise early morning warming and minimise overheating.  All these termites live on grassland.  They are the biggest group of grazers, eating more than all the other insects, invertebrates and vertebrates together, including the cattle.