Inland Nectarworm

As some populations of Branching Bonespires moved inland, they would be followed by Nectarworms as well. Over time, these Nectarworms would evolve alongside their Bonespire counterparts and split off into a unique taxon. This new species, known as the Inland Nectarworm, is pretty similar to a scaled up version of its direct ancestor for the most part.

When they hatch from their eggs and emerge from the ground, Inland Nectarworms will still feed on the sap of sunstalks, with the young possessing a sharp tongue to pierce the surface and lick out the sap. After constantly feeding for a week, the tongue with atrophy and a proboscis will grow out. At this point, the now mature Inland Nectarworm lives up to their name, as their diet for the rest of their lives consists of nectar. Being specialists of Lesser Steppespire nectar, Inland Nectarworms will fly around and smell the air for the distinct odor given off by the melanophytes’ petals, where they can then head towards the source. As they feed on the nectar, the Inland Nectarworm will rest and likely touch the trigger-hairs of the Lesser Steppespire, which then causes the petals to close up and trap them inside. At first the Inland Nectarworm ignores this, feeding on the nectar until there is no more nectar to consume, the whole process taking about eleven hours. Once the nectar-stalks run dry, the Inland Nectarworm begins to panic and struggles to escape, covering itself in pollen in the process. After about an hour, the petals open up and let the organism escape, so it can then fly over to another Lesser Steppespire and repeat the process.

After a week of this whole process, the Inland Nectarworms will stop feeding and come together in massive swarms. Within these swarms, the Inland Nectarworms will mate with as many individuals as possible to mix up the genomes of their offspring as possible. After this, they will fall down to the ground and dig out a shallow pit with their proboscis, then lay their eggs into the pit. By the time they bury the eggs in a thin layer of sand, the Inland Nectarworms are so exhausted that they will die not too long afterwards. All of the Inland Nectarworms dying provides a glut of food for local scavengers such as Minikruggs. The eggs left behind are still incredibly resilient, and remain dormant for about a year. Only when they experience long periods of cold in the form of winter and then feel steadily increasing temperatures due to the arrival of spring will the eggs hatch, which in turn is synchronized with the blooming of the Lesser Steppespires, allowing the whole cycle to repeat itself.