Fig. 1: Parallels in depiction of termite pavements in helicopter and satellite imagery and Aboriginal painting.

a, Aerial photographs show regularly spaced termite pavements in spinifex grassland of Triodia basedowii on Nyiyaparli lands. The red vehicle track is same as in c. Dark ash of recently burnt spinifex is visible by the track (photo © Mike Gillam 2021). b, Painting of regularly spaced termite pavements by Anmatyerre, Warlpiri and Arrernte man Kaapa Tjampitjinpa, titled ‘Watanuma’ (edible flying termites). Synthetic polymer paint on canvas, 202.4 × 171.8 cm. (1976), National Museum of Australia, © estate of the artist, licensed by Papunya Tula Artists and Aboriginal Artists Agency⁹⁵. c, The pavement spot patterns are visible using Google Earth; the track on the right (east) is the same track as shown in a near plot FC 2 (Image © 2/2022 CNES/Airbus, eye alt 610 m). d, Painting ‘Flying termite dreaming’ by Anmatyerre Warlpiri man, Paddy Carroll Tjungurrayi associated with the pupate stage of the flying ant [termite] Watanuma. The artist indicated the creamy background represents spinifex in which the insect flourishes. Synthetic polymer paint on canvas, 180 × 120 cm, (1980), unknown collection, © estate of the artist, licensed by Papunya Tula Artists and Aboriginal Artists Agency. There are visual and content similarities between photographs (a,c) and artwork (b,d). Further interpretations of b and d are provided in Supplementary Fig. 1. Images a, b and d in this figure are covered by Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND.