Northern Australia is a big country shaped by a small insect: the termite. In many places the very look of northern savannas owes much to the mounds built by colonies of this insect. North Australian savannas have one of the most diverse range of termite mounds in the world: from the enormous buttressed “cathedrals” of spinifex termites, to the remarkably aligned “magnetic” mounds and miniature cities of columns built by various Amitermes species.