Our Friends the Termites

About this book

Take a journey into the micro-world of one of the most maligned creatures on the planet and discover the real story of termites. After years of keen observation in Western Australia's Kimberley region, Pat Lowe shows that there is more to these industrious insects than their propensity to eat houses and furniture.

Termites are the earthworms of the tropics, providing nutrients to arid soils. They have been an important food for people and other animals throughout the centuries, and their nests have been used in many human endeavours.

Our Friends the Termites will enlighten anyone who has travelled through northern Australia and wondered at the strange mounds that dot the landscape. It is a fascinating and delightful read for backyard naturalists, entomologists and the simply curious.

Contents

Introduction   9
No place like home   11
Who's who in the colony   27
Social life   37
The good that termites do   57
Termites and people   69
Eaten by white ants   85
How termites talk to one another   101
How termites think   109
Termitophiles and other folk   119
Glossary   137
Bibliography   141
Acknowledgements   144

Customer Reviews

Biography

Pat Lowe is a writer and psychologist who grew up in England. She taught at secondary schools in France and East Africa and has spent more than half her life in Western Australia.

She met Jimmy Pike when she was working as a psychologist at Broome Prison, and later joined him at his desert camp, where the pair stayed for three years, before moving to Broome. Pat has written a dozen books, many of them in collaboration with Jimmy.