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Do they actually produce and spawn the gaunts or do they just have them (the gaunts) inside them when they (the Tervigon) is spawned?

Do Dominatrix produce nids?

Furthermore I am really interested on how they reproduce on a planet... Lets say there are a bunch or bugs stranded on some planet. Can they reproduce and up their numbers? Do the Tervigons and Dominatrix spawn eggs?

Does a daddy gaunt meet a mommy gaunt and they bone? IDK?

They grow Nids inside sacks attached to their stomach. They're mobile nid factories basically.

Dominatrix's do this as well I believe yes.

Tyranids reproduce mostly inside Bio-Ships, which dock over reclamation pools filled with giant "straw-like" towers attached to the collected bio-mass and suck it all up, producing more Nids in "factories" inside of them. New Nids are then spawned from the collected biomass shortly before they assault a new planet and are launched at the planet via Mycetic Spores. When the Tyranids have consumed everything on the planet they jump in the new reclamation pools that have been grown via spores, dissolve, and the process begins again.

I believe the Tervigon does indeed make the Termagants from scratch as it were. Its not just spawned with a couple dozen inside and unleashed upon the enemy.

So if it gets fed enough it could spawn an unlimited number of Gants.

So if a bunch of bugs were stranded on a planet without those bio ships their only hope would be tervigon and dominatrix ?

If I'm not mistaken, one of the codexes said that hormagaunts burrow and lay eggs to reproduce, with genestealers being the only other nids that reproduce themselves. Although GW seems to like retconning things like genestealer cults and such.

It is almost a certainty that hormogaunts reproduce asexually so no mating is required. They are mentioned as the only species of small tyranid that can reproduce so other than them the nids require the larger nids such as the dominatrix to produce them.

Tervigons main job is to patrol the bioships and produce guards as required. It does not say that this is the only way that termegants are produced. For larger swarms they may also be produced by the larger nids.

To be honest there is no information on how the nids can give birth to multiple species and it doesn't follow the laws of biology that we currently understand on Earth. However this is science fiction so you just have to believe!

Although never stated outright, it's strongly implied that Tervigons can create an unlimited number of Termagants over time. Their unit entry describes them "temporarily exhausting their supply of larvae". I can't really see them "refuelling" with Termagant larvae (like filling up a car with fuel), so creating new larvae is the logical conclusion.

The Dominatrix hasn't really been featured in recent fluff in any detail, but the Hive Fleet Gorgon timeline notes the Dominatrix as being a reproductive creature. We don't have much information that is current beyond that.

Hormagaunts "lay hundreds of eggs" during their short, energetic lifetimes. It is never specified whether they reproduce asexually or not, but given all things Tyranid i would imagine so.

The Parasite of Mortrex is another example of a Tyranid bio-form that produces other Tyranids, and once again they are a completely different bio-form to their progenitor.

The Anphellion Project (Forge World campaign setting) featured a Tyranid infestation that started out as an isolated collection of smaller Tyranids that broke free and behind the scenes multiplied all the way up to deploying Bio titans.

When you think about it though, Tyranid weapons produce other organisms (several, in the case of the Deathspitter), Biovores produce semi-sentient Spore Mines etc. With the Tyranids, I think all bets are off on the reproductive front.

 monkeypuzzle wrote:
It is almost a certainty that hormogaunts reproduce asexually so no mating is required. They are mentioned as the only species of small tyranid that can reproduce so other than them the nids require the larger nids such as the dominatrix to produce them.

Tervigons main job is to patrol the bioships and produce guards as required. It does not say that this is the only way that termegants are produced. For larger swarms they may also be produced by the larger nids.

To be honest there is no information on how the nids can give birth to multiple species and it doesn't follow the laws of biology that we currently understand on Earth. However this is science fiction so you just have to believe!

They arn't as much multiple species as much as similar to Castes in Ants.

There are stark differences between Ant castes, which could directly translate to the differences between Tyranids.

Giant space aunts... Picnics beware...

usmcmidn wrote:
Giant space aunts... Picnics beware...

Wait, what? Space Aunts..?