"Quit griping!" "I like griping"

No. Queen can't produce eggs without ovipositor. When Ripley shoots ovipositor - from there yolks pour out, not mini-eggs.

I think, mini-eggs it's just a... mini-eggs with mini-face-huggers for rats, birds and another small life forms. They do not grow.

I have another theory: an adult xenomorph can implant a mini facehugger into the body of a host that slowly changes into an egg. The facehugger grows inside the victim's body leading to the classic ovomorph. 

Probably this is how David intends to use the 2 mini facehuggers.

Regarding the egg on Sulaco, what if Bishop put the egg there. He seemed very interested in studying the dead facehugger.

There was no special order 937, but Bishop was still an android programmed by W-Y and he might have saved Ripley & Co. to serve as hosts. Or due to a malfunction.

However the egg must have grown on board the Sulaco, otherwise it would have been spotted by Ripley before going into cryosleep. 

The egg was also hanging on the ceiling, the queen, no matter how smart it was using the elevator and all, would have put it on the floor.

@ Leto,

An ovipositor is not a sexual organ, it does not produce eggs, it merely is an organ used for the placement of eggs (with parasitic ovipositors also used for piercing hosts). However, ovipositors are not unique to insects, as some fish and seahorses also possess ovipositors.

As such a Queen Alien could still produce eggs without an ovipositor, and as BigDave mentioned the possibility that the eggs can grow could explain why Ripley did not discover them (the assembly cut of Alien 3 shows two Facehuggers) aboard the Sulaco.

@ daliens,

Liking the idea of a Facehugger growing inside a host. We not only saw this, in a fashion in Prometheus with Shaws child. but it could also be an interpretation of some concept art from Giger for Alien 3...

However, the idea that Bishop stowed the Facehuggers onboard the Sulaco is, for me, a stretch. Yes, he was fascinated by the Facehugger in the colony's med lab (could David have spread a virus among synthetics that would make them become beguiled by the Xenomorph?), but after the marines destroy the only two live specimens from the lab, the only Facehuggers remaining (not including the derelict Juggernaut) would have been in the Queens hive. The only opportunity he would have had to gather any eggs would have been while Ripley was rescuing Newt. It is possible but unlikely.

As for how the Egg got into its uncharacteristic position I have a theory about that...

You will notice that the alien egg, or Ovomorph, has some tendril/tentacle-like appendages at is base. Some have speculated in the past that the Ovomorph is in some way alive, and not just merely an egg, while others retain that it is just an egg and that these appendages are merely roots.

What if the Ovomorph is a creature either laid by a Queen, or formed from a reconstructed host (a la Brett) that incubates and protects the Facehugger, and that with the tendril/tentacle-like appendages the Ovomorph it capable of moving around - ergo, once laid by the Queen while she was hiding within the Dropships landing gear, the Ovomorph grew to full size and managed to maneuver itself to were we saw it in Alien 3.

"When Ripley shoots ovipositor - from there yolks pour out, not mini-eggs."

Silly Me...  i should have consider this, as indeed it did show something like YOLKS that was spilling out the Center after Ripley had Shot at it...  

Can we rule out a Queen Producing smaller Eggs? Who knows, if we do go solely by ALIENS then there is a Process from the Queen through the External Egg Sac/Womb  that are Finally Once Fully formed are deposited by the Ovipositor

Which when i now consider that then indeed the likely hood of having a Small Egg like we see in AC, that goes along the Process to become Full Size, appears to be what is NOT going on with the Queens Eggs.

So again thanks for reminding me of that Little Oversight when i proposed that theory ;)

Regarding David's Eggs and if those Small Ones can Grow i think thats something thats open for debate, we cant say for sure either way.

I think maybe the best Solution would have to be the Multiple Cargo Holds/Different Xenomorph route!

A lot depends on IF we get another Movie that shows the differences or HOW a Queen comes to be, so FAR the only information we have IF we throw out the Alien DC Cut is..

As James Cameron had stated the Eggs are Laid by a Queen, the Xenomorph in Alien and Alien 3 were Juvenile and when they get Older they loose the Clear Dome Carapace.

A lot of the Errors and Conflicts come from Various Cuts/Edits of the Movies, then Changes that the Next Director/Writing Team make without considering what was shown prior.   Other Members of Production/The Studio also add what they want Changed Also!

With Cameron he decided to make the Xenomorphs more like a Ant/Bee Nest/Hive and introduced the Egg Laying Queen, which he was in his rights to do so, as the DC Egg Morph was not considered Canon at that Time. (not many would have been aware of the Deleted Scenes, Cameron may of, but as they was Deleted it means he Did-Not have to consider them for his Project).

I am not sure if we would ever see a EGG MORPH or have it Contradict the Queen, i think at some point it would be interesting to find out HOW those Queens came to be though.

Indeed regarding the Face Hugger Growing inside a Host, as suggested on here, maybe the ALIEN DC scene is showing that Brett is being changed into a Egg  Casing that will host a Face Huger he had maybe been implanted with?

Prometheus we saw that Dr Shaw had a Type of Face Hugger growing inside her...

We see from David's Notes that he had a interest in some Mermaids Purses that he Discovered.

It is possible he used these in his Experiments to Engineer from them what became the Egg Casing for the Face Huger Embryos.

Gavin

No point clinging to words. Ovopositor or something else. The point is that it is in this "hanging" thing that eggs are produced. Not in the Queen.

BigDave

About eggs, egg-morphing and queen. I think, we should ask: how David get all these eggs - small and normal? Well, maybe answer - he used Shaw, but it's not an answer! We still don't know HOW. The process.

the Xenomorph in Alien and Alien 3 were Juvenile and when they get Older they loose the Clear Dome Carapace.

Between Giger's Big Chap and Cameron's xenomorphs much more differences than just with dome head. Another numbers of fingers, another jaw structure, etc. details, like blades on hands. No xenomorphs in Aliens is not a older. Some people talk about another cast of xenomorphs (well, you know - drone, warrior, etc.) and this is have a more sense.

@ Leto,

In nature, ovipositors are only ever used to transport and place eggs, the eggs are produced in the abdomen of the insect/animal. In Aliens there is no evidence to the contrary with one egg being placed and a few more being shown moving through the ovipositor.

Alien Queen Full Scene

James Cameron's statements that his Aliens were older is valid...

The Alien in Alien was alive as an adult for 24 hours, In Alien 3 the Alien was alive for 2-3 days, and in Alien: Resurrection the Aliens were also alive for 2-3 days. In Aliens the Aliens had been alive for 2.5-3 weeks before the USS Sulaco arrived there...

10 days/one and a half weeks for Gateway Station to stop receiving communications from Hadley's Hope (Supervisor Al's comments about three weeks to wait for a reply - 1.5 weeks for a signal to be received by Gateway Station, and a further 1.5 weeks for a response to be received).

2-3 days for confirmation that no signal is being received from Hadley's Hope, and Ripley's indecision to join the Sulaco to LV-426.

7 Days/one week for the USS Sulaco to arrive at LV-426 from Gateway Station (Hicks states 17 days until a rescue would arrive - one week for the Sulaco to return to Gateway Station from LV-426, 2-3 days leeway period in case the Sulaco is late, one week for another Colonial Marines ship to travel from Gateway Station to LV-426).

10 Days + 2-3 Days + 7 Days = 2.5-3 weeks.

The Aliens at Hadley's Hope were more skeletal in appearance, with missing carapace's and, at least in one scene, blades attached to their forearms...

The bladed forearms are not evident in most of the movie, with this scene being their only inclusion. Cameron's answer that such changes are from these Aliens being older is the only viable answer we have, especially as no other Aliens have been shown to include any of the features unique to the Hadley's Hope Aliens.

If we look at the bee world we can try to explain a few things, by comparison. 

A queen bee mates with the drones (male bees) and can lay fertilized or not fertilized eggs. From the not fertilized eggs come the drones, whose only purpose in life is eating and mating. From the fertilized eggs come the worker bees that are all female but not sexually mature. If the queen dies, the worker bees can lay eggs, but not being fertilized will produce only drones. Since the drones do not work or collect food, the hive will disappear. 

How do we get the queen bee? Nothing special about the egg, the worker bees feed a female larva from a fertilized egg with royal jelly, that female bee will thus become sexually mature and will lay thousands of eggs after mating with the drones.

But it is crucial to feed that female larva with royal jelly from the very first stages, otherwise it will be another worker bee.

If we consider the eusocial type xenomorph's chestburster like the bee larva, nobody would feed the poor creature with alien royal jelly unless it is born within hive or a group of xenomorphs able to protect and watch over it. 

 James Cameron's statements that his Aliens were older is valid...

Oh, that's obvious. I try to say - they are not the same species from original Alien. Whatever what Cameron said. How anybody can explain missing six finger?

There were other Aesthetic Differences between the Alien Big Chap and Aliens Warriors, James Cameron had mentioned the Maturity of the Species for some of the Differences, but he did intend to KEEP to the Clear Carapace Aesthetic but abandoned it as they See Through Part of the Costume became too Fragile for the more Action Sequences.

But again a lot of people will only go by what is SHOWN and not any comments by the Directors/Production.

So there are some Differences, these are from Cameron and his Team Deciding on some changes Aesthetically instead of trying to STICK with the Original...  But each Movie the Aesthetic is changed somewhat.

The Reality is those Working on Aliens and Cameron had came up with a Design that they in part felt was more suited for Action Scenes, and also going the route that these were WARRIORS then some of the Aesthetic Changes could be to make them look more... well Warrior Like.

We have to look at the Xenomorph from the BUG/HIVE POV and so there are different castes for maybe different Tasks... 

We cant Rule out that a Xenomorph can Evolve/Molt itself to some Changes to SUIT what ever role is required... so for a Queen who is Somewhat Incapacitated due to Egg Laying, then she would require the Warrior Class for Protection.

Maybe there is some Pheromone, Telepathic or some other kind of Element that helps to Determine what is required..   So that a Face Hugger who infects a Host and Gestates a Certain Distance from a Established Hive would Automatically Create a Big Chap/Runner Variant of the Species.

Where as ONCE a Hive has been Established and a Queen then any Gestating Xenomorphs within a Proximity to the Hive would Automatically become a Warrior....   When the QUEEN is gone then something triggers a Face Hugger to Produce a Royal Embryo.

(But it could be something similar to how daliens had mentioned in regards to a BEE HIVE).

Regarding the Finger Digits, maybe they felt the Xenomorph Costume benefited from having the Stunt Person inside placing their Hands in the Gloves in pairs, as far as a Production Perspective instead of 4 Individual Fingered Glove....  with the Thumb in addition.  With ALIEN in some shots the Costume Glove as far as 6 digits did look odd as ONE of those Digits had NONE of the Stunt Persons (Bolaji Badejo) Fingers in it, so it was a attached Additional Digit and it did come across as being a bit Wobbly and Odd.

It boils down to a combination of whats going to be better to use as a Costume, while also maybe what could look a bit different as far as Cameron putting his own Twist on the Design.

something INTERESTING to consider is that the QUEEN also has 6 Digits like the  ALIEN Big Chap could we consider this means they are Procreative Versions of the Species, and so would explain the Egg Morph Procreation or could a Big Chap simply EVOLVE into a Queen?

@ Leto,

BigDave and I are just highlighting Cameron's perspective, which has to be taken into consideration when talking about the eusocial side of the Alien, as he was the one that introduced this to the mythology.

Personally, I believe that the hive/insect/eusocial Alien introduced in Aliens is a variant different to the biomechanical variant Kane discovered and that the "bug" Alien came from somewhere inside the derelict Juggernauts collapsed "hammer" arm; the part of the vessel the Jordens accessed the vessel...

Considering that it is highly unlikely that Anne Jorden dragged her husband all the way from the location of the eggs Kane discovered 57 years prior, it is my belief that shortly after they entered the collapsed arm o the derelict Juggernaut that Russ and Anne Jorden discovered a scene similar to this...

Upon discovering the bound Queen they approached a nearby egg as it opened only for Russ to get Facehugged, after which Anne would have dragged her husband out of there and back to the rover.

As for the Queen, it is my belief that the Space Jockey experimented with its cargo and created the Queen by introducing the Xenomorph to insect DNA.

Speculations aside, its key to take note that Alien and Aliens present their variants of the Xenomorph as somewhat individual to each other, whereas Alien 3 and Alien: Ressurection confuse/muddy the situation. The latter two movies carry forward the Queen idea, but the Aliens produced have a carapace akin to the creature from Alien, instead of the carapace-less look introduced in Aliens.

And then there are the inexplicable and unexplained reasons as to why the "Runner" Alien is the only standard Alien (as in not a Queen) that does not possess any of the Aliens dorsal appendages (the four tubes/nozzles and the "fin"). While it is also important to note that in Alien, Aliens, and Alien 3 the Aliens born shared the leg structure of their hosts, yet for reasons unexplained the Aliens in Alien: Ressurection, despite being born from human hosts (whose legs are plantigrade) somehow had digitigrade legs like those of the dog born Alien in Alien 3. The Aliens from Alien: Resurrection also do not possess the dorsal fin seen at the top of the spine in the variants seen in Alien and Aliens.

I think it just shows a combination of things, First improvements to Costume Designs, Second each Producer/Directors own unique touch, and Third a change in how the Xenomorphs are intended to be Visualized 

By that it appears the Leg Design is something they now consider is more Standard for the Xenomorph.  As far as the Digitigrade  Anatomy, which we see in Alien Isolation and so by that if we got say a Sequel to Alien that was set between Alien and Aliens, or even a Aliens Sequel set between Aliens and Alien Resurrection i think our Xenomorphs would be depicted with Digitigrade Legs

The Lack of the Dorsal Tubes on the Runner is something to debate about.... 

But the differences between the Alien and Aliens Xenomorphs could be considered as either Separate Variants from different parts of the Ship.

Or maybe there is some kind of Pheromones or other Element that determines what the Xenomorphs Gestate into.     The Drone could be considered as something that is TASKED with Starting up a Colony... Once Established and a Queen is then Established then the Queen or Hive could release something that would make those Gestating Xenomorphs become Warriors.

Maybe in Alien Resurrection there was NOT what is deemed a successful Hive/Numbers for the Gestating Xenomorphs to appear more like Aliens Warriors?

I think the BIG Question should be around the Xenomorph's Origins, as a Purposely Created/Engineered Organism for the USE as a Bio-Weapon (to Clean up Worlds) is the Queen a Desired Trait that is Engineered into the Bio-Weapon?  A Mutation?

Or a Throw Back Trait from what ever the Xenomorphs, Deacons etc had been Experimented from?

Alien Engineers seems to indicate that the Xenomorphs came in Variants and are Experiments from Re-Engineering a Life-Form the Engineers likely Did-Not Create (Holloways Child)  If similar applies to the Movie Franchise, then some more Ancient Organism that lead to the Xenomorphs etc could have had a Procreation like Ants/Bees etc (had a Queen) and so this is a Throw Back Trait.

But then it could be explained as a Trait that was Engineered into some of the Variants of Xenomorph.

Especially if we look at the Black Goo like intended which was the same as the Scarabs in Alien Engineers, then it explains the Process of Davids many Experiments.  But even the Mcguffin Goo we now have could still do that due its Radical AI application, by that Every Organism has a different DNA/Genomes, that would READ as Separate and Different Genetic Code/Program and the Black Goo can thus take the Genetic Code of One Organism and Hybrid it to another Organism.  (not too far off what the Scarabs did). 

So indeed the Creator of the Xenomorph, could use the Black Goo to Create Different Versions and Procreation... want a Flying Xenomorph, then the Black Goo could take the Traits of Flight from a Bat, Bird or Insect and apply them to the Xenomorph to Create a Flying Version etc.

Here is something related to ichneumonid wasps since I think that they had something to do with the Egg-morph:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/303956327_The_Braconid_and_Ichneumonid_Parasitoid_Wasps_Biology_Systematics_Evolution_and_Ecology/download

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3497088/

https://nature.mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/field-guide/ichneumon-wasps

I do not know that much about it but I thought that I could post it here for the discussion if anyone is interested.