Even though the original Xenomorph of James Cameron's Alien appears to be inspired entirely by H.R. Giger's vision of a hell of mechanistic demons, the sequel Aliens took a more entomological slant. The more familiar cyborganic reptilian humanoid became more bug-like in form and society. We were introduced to a hive, and hives must have a queen.
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The first movie introduced us to enormous eggs, and a mysterious pattern of alternating generations (such as a fern or jellyfish would) where the animal form that hatches the egg is definitely not the animal form that lays the egg. The second movie answers the question of what makes and lays these monstrous eggs. It is all textbook entomology.It wouldn't be far-fetched that in addition to drawing inspiration with regard to arthropod society and reproduction the filmmakers similarly drew inspiration for the form of the queen alien which differs markedly from all other forms of the xenomorph. Certainly, the specialized egg-laying chamber of the queen's abdomen (the part she forceably detaches at some point) is entomologically inspired.
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| Termite queen with abdomen converted into monstrous egg-laying factory. |
Xenomorph regina? This abuse of binomial nomenclature implies that the queen is somehow a species all to her own. Was this thought up by a member of Homo pseudopedantis?
Below you will see the Phronima parasite nestled up comfortably in the shell of a tunicate it has devoured. This picture may have come to the attention of Cameron and his visual art specialists in the making of the first film when they were looking for ways to depict the facehugger generation emerging from the egg. It is also evocative of the queen alien in her sedentary egg-laying state (when she forceably detaches from where she is "glued in").
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| Queen of Giant Albino Ant with egg-laying abdomen |
Re-design of Xenomorphs in the movie Aliens
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