The cause of the mysterious "circles of the fairies" in the African desert - ordinary termites

The Namib Desert in Africa has huge following, the edges of which look as if sand in these places someone intentionally dug. These formations, sometimes stretching for hundreds of square kilometers, got a poetic name "circles of the fairies." Previously, scientists have attributed their creation ants, poisonous plants or toxic gases released in these places of the earth. And the locals are of the opinion that the circles of the fairies appear miraculously.





However, following the fairies may well be the work of termite species Psammotermes allocerus. Apparently, following the fairies - by termite trap sand. Insects eat all vegetation within a circle, and the grains are arranged in such a way as to save even the smallest drops of rain water - rainfall in the desert, though rare, but still happen. Thus, following the termites - a kind of desert version of the beaver dams.





Across the desert ecosystem created following termites may be far more important than mere water tanks because termites -Price food resource for many other animals such as geckos, aardvarks, dragons, spiders and ants.

via factroom.ru