Sodstalks, which now number around 80 species in the tribe Microsaccareae, were very nearly a victim of the Ice Age extinction, with only a handful of species surviving by clinging to the margins of floral communities. One lived on the loop-grassland and was able to finally thrive once the dominant grass in that environment succumbed to Muller's ratchet. Another species could be found on the sunny sides of mountains, growing in dense clumps that conserved heat by packing tens of thousands of individuals into every square meter. The descendants of these two survivors are now their own genera, each diversifying into dozens of species over the course of the Arthrocene, but a third group exists that has a lifestyle far more derived than its relatives. The genus Arthrophilosaccharus, though the smallest in its tribe with only a half-dozen members, has spread far and wide with the help of an isopod that has built, not found, a new niche for itself.
The Farmlice (Hortulocornis), not coincidentally, also comprise exactly six species, each associated with a specific Arthrophilosaccharus sodstalk. They are a genus of sweetstag Scansoriarthriforms that diverged from the other members of their clade about three million years ago. Even before this time, many sweetstags found themselves feeding on sodstalk nectar during times when prey was scarce. The farmlouse descendants of this group now have one of the most specialized living situations of any animal on the planet. Their life cycle begins at the same time in late spring when Arthrophilosaccharus drops its seeds. Each of soft, vulnerable mancae must then grab a seed in its jaws and set out in search of new territory, as farmlice do not practice parental care and will eat their own offspring if given the chance. When a suitable location is found, a farmlouse will dig a small hole and bury the grass seed, which begins germinating in a matter of hours. These grains are so specialized for this form of dispersal that they are preprogrammed to sprout less than a day after falling off their parent plant, so they will almost inevitably die from exposure if not planted by a farmlouse.
After planting its first crop, a manca will act as a decomposer for its first few weeks, eating mostly half-rotten leaves. In just a month, the sodstalk will have grown to its full height of around 10 centimeters, at which point it produces a small, filamentous inflorescence. The seeds produced from this plant are not like the tough grain the young farmlouse carried off from its mother's home; instead, they take the form of tiny, almost spore-like pellets, only just heavy enough not to drift away in the breeze. Once they've finished developing, they'll be cut down by the now halfway-grown isopod, who drags the flower stalk across the ground near its first plant, depositing dozens of seeds in the surrounding area. These will grow into more sodstalks, which in turn the farmlouse will harvest and replant up to ten times before the next spring. Pollination occurs almost entirely within this patch of plants descended from one individual, so by the end of winter they are all nearly genetically identical, functioning as a single plant. They can even share nutrients by meeting at their root tips, a trait no other Apterran plant has evolved so far. However, when spring arrives, they produce a new form of pollen that carries many kilometers on the wind, recombining their inbred DNA with that of colonies far away. The farmlouse does something similar; males abandon their homesteads and seek out neighboring Arthrophilosaccharus patches with female inhabitants. Once both the plants and bugs have successfully reproduced, the entire cycle starts anew. Males die after mating, but females may continue tending their gardens for up to four years. Occasionally, a very lucky manca will stumble upon an established patch of sodstalks whose male inhabitant has left it forever, and in this case it will simply eat the seed it carries and begin tending to the older crop.