In Waking Mars, the two mobile species (Phyta and Cycots) are an important part of the Martian lifecycle. Their main purpose, of course, is to be eaten like the mobile snacks they ar-- er, I mean, provide nutrients for other species as part of the great Circle Of Life. One by-product of the Circle Of Life is Compost, which you can use to fertilize soil, improve the life growing in said soil, and increase the Biomass in the cavern. Acquiring large amounts of Compost involves leading many Phyta or Cycots to the dinner table of a Larian.
Since this sort of activity leads to a dearth of Phyta, you breed more Phyta by giving them a seed. This makes the Phyta produce some sort of Phyta-cocoon, and after 10 seconds or so, a new Phyta pops out.
The problem I'm running into is that sometimes, the cocoon doesn't pop out a new Phyta - the cocoon just decays, leaving me with nothing to stuff down the ravening maws of other Martian life. (I'm seeing this particularly in caverns that have maxed out their Biomass at level 5.)
Why aren't the Phyta reproducing when I feed them, and how can I make them start breeding again?