Cocoon

The cocoon (also known as the chrysalis) is the stage the human-alien hybrids evolve from childhood to adulthood throughout the Species series. The chrysalis is formed from tentacles that grow from inside the hybrid. Even if not fully grown or reborn, the creatures are able to attack an individual who comes close enough to its cocoon. To some hybrids, this process is painful and horrifying, while others appear to feel no harm.

In the series[]

Species[]

A cocoon is first seen in Species, when Sil, as a teenager, is horrified as the tentacles painfully grow from inside her body and begin lifting her up and wrapping her against a wall. The train inspector who watched over Sil (believing her to be an ordinary girl) returns to see her and finds the pulsating cocoon. The creature grabbed the woman from inside its chrysalis and strangled her to death.

Sil was then reborn from the cocoon as a fully-grown woman, moving on to the mating stage of her life cycle. After finding out about the cocoon, Preston Lennox questioned the team if they were hunting for a "giant moth".

Species: Human Race []

Kal is never seen evolving to adulthood in this stage, but presumably went through it as he belongs to the same species as Sil.

Species II[]

Infected by alien DNA, Patrick Ross kept his offspring hidden in his childhood barn until the infant hybrids entered their cocoon stage. Following her mating instinct, Eve later came to the barn and then found Patrick, ready to mate. Their sexual act generated a similar process in that their bodies were connected to and wrapped onto each other, creating a cocoon. Inside, they transformed into their alien forms (Patrick is his bipedal form) and then they had continued mating in a human-like position.

Species III[]

Eve and Patrick's offspring, Sara, was taken and adopted by Dr. Abbot. She pulped while alone in his house, much to her horror. She later fell from her cocoon as a young woman. Her cocoon looked different from her predecesors,

Species: The Awakening[]

In an attempt to fully recover Miranda's deteriorating health, Tom, Forbes and Azura used a human woman's DNA to restore her. This process caused both Miranda and the woman to pupate. The woman died, and Miranda came back to life from the chrysalis, apparently recovered. However, the cocoon stage awoke her predatory nature - Miranda returned as a sexual predator, moved by a killing instinct.

Appearance[]

A cocoon's aspect varies from hybrid to hybrid. Sil, Eve and Patrick's species evolves into pulsating, tentacled pupa. Some of Patrick's offspring's chrysalis feature a spiked membrane. Sara's chrysalis is different, with her human appearance and hair left on the outer membrane.

Some of the pupas are luminescent, like on Sil and Miranda's cases. Eve and Patrick's mating chrysalis displays strong flashlights after being formed. This cocoon was formed on the ground, while the others mostly evolved using high-leveled structures, such as walls or ceilings.

Notes[]

When finding out about the cocooning process, Lennox questions if the team is hunting "a giant moth" in reference to the similarity of this stage in the species' life cycle to holometabolous insects, like moths and butterflies.
- Sara's more human-like rebirth
  
  While this stage is similar to insects, the fully-grown hybrids are reborn with what appears to be an umbilical cord. Sara's rebirth also produces a substance similar to amniotic fluid, a human fetus' protective liquid.
- Sara's pupa is similar to an imago: it features her previous body form, from which she emerges in a new, more mature one. The imago is the last stage an insect attains during its metamorphosis, its process of growth and development.
Not counting Patrick's children, Sil's offspring is the only infant hybrid in the series killed before reaching maturity. Instead, it morphs into a deformed alien creature.
Patrick's offspring feel no pain and show no negative reaction when entering their cocoon stage, appearing to be aware of it. Sara, however, is horrified when her pupation starts.
Being a clone of Sil, it makes sense that Sara, Eve's daughter, inherited Sil's nature of evolving.
Kal, Eve and Miranda are some of the hybrids to never cocoon on screen. Miranda, however, pulps as part of her recovery attempt.
The cocoon is prominently featured in posters for the Species movie.
Actress Natasha Henstridge has commented that, even after Sil morphs into physical adulthood, she is still a child.
The Xenomorph - also famously designed by H. R. Giger - is revealed to reach maturity via a massive cocoon ensconced on a nearby wall in Alien: Romulus (2024), strinkingly similar to Sil and the other hybrids.