A large mound may contain a population equal to that of some large cities (approximately a million individuals).The workers and soldiers are stunted in growth and their sexual organs have failed to develop; this allows them to devote their time and attention to labor without the distraction of breeding. When the queen grows too old and her fertility wanes, the workers kill her by licking her to death: as many workers as can get at her surround her day and night. Gradually she grows thinner and thinner until finally only a shriveled skin is left. This is covered with mound material and hidden from sight. Queen termites may survive for over 45 years under optimal climatic conditions. Without termites in these ecosystems, there simply would be no decay of cellulose, the predominant component of plant tissue. Without decay, the system would rather quickly grind to a halt, as nutrients would remain forever trapped in dead wood and stems, and a thick carpet of dead plants would quickly begin to clog the landscape.These termites are loaded with fats and proteins, and many species find them delicious. African peoples have consumed termites for millennia. School kids, finding a fresh termite swarm, will fall on them and gorge themselves before going off to tell their friends of their discovery. Their most persistent and formidable enemies are driver ants, which is why termites labor so intensively to keep their gray-clay mounds impervious to even the smallest of invaders. But they also are beloved by many larger animal species, especially aardwolves and aardvarks, as well as many omnivorous species, including certainly chacma baboons and vervet monkeys.