The giant termite mound! On the right: these termites started building their mound around a dead trunk.

A field of small termite mounds:

Insect Architecture - Magnetic Termite Mounds

The Magnetic Termites of Northern Australia are master architect if the insect world. The grassy plains on which they live flood in the wet season and are baked by the sun in the Dry. They thrive on the prolific grass growth in these habitats and cope with the flooding and dryness by building mounds which provide an internal environment suited to their way of life.

Heating the Mound

Termites like warm, stable temperatures. During the dry season, however, the low areas in which the Magnetic Termites build their nest are often pools of cold air at night, only to be baked by the sun during the day. To escape this temperature variation other termite species migrate underground, but magnetic termites have no underground refuge, probably because of the regular flooding. instead, they construct plate-shaped mounds which are angled to catch the sun so as to create a stable temperature for most of the day on their eastern faces.

On the dry season mornings, magnetic termites move to the eastern face of these mounds which warms rapidly. By late morning the face is comfortably warm and remains so for the rest of the day. The termites move back to the center of the nest as temperatures cool in the evening.

Due to local wind conditions and local shade, the magnetic termite mounds are not aligned along an exact north-south axis, rather, they are aligned along various axesranging from slightly west of the true north, to 10 degrees East in Litchfield National Park.

How Magnetic Termites align their mounds

Biologist believe that Magnetic Termites do not sense directly the local climate conditions but always costruct their mounds along fixed, genetically inherited axes. Those mounds which are not aligned appropriatly to the prevailing wind and shade conditions perish, whereas those mounds aligned correctly grow to maturity and produce offspring mounds which are similarly oriented. This process is kown as natural selection.

Don't miss the Tabletop Swamps: it's an oasis of water with beautiful white swans.

Red flower bush at the entrance of Table Swamps

Tolmer Falls cascades over two high escarpments into a deep pool. During the dry season, the waterfall is only a sprinkle.

Litchfield's most popular attraction: Wangi Falls flows into a large swimming hole.

Don't miss the sun heated rock pool below the waterfall on the left.

There is a lot of wildlife in and around the pool such as bats and colorful birds.

Spiders and blue dragonflies

Not freshwater crocodiles or salties in sight but a few fishes:

Climbing to the top tof the waterfall (an aboriginal site), we could enjoy the view over the never ending tropical rainforest.