system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
[Alien] How are Xenomorph queens made?

What makes a chestburster grow up into a queen instead of a normal Xenomorph? Is the facehugger egg different or does the development pathway divergence occur after bursting out of the chest? What signals are responsible for choosing between the two development pathways?
gpt
Queens are created in 3 different ways. The first and most common way is an elderly or dying queen will lay a specific clone egg of herself. This royal facehugger will ne able to implant both a queen chestbuster and a drone one in a second host to aid the infant queen. If laid in an established hive the hive will nurture the new queen without hesitation.

The second most common method is that in the absence of a queen the hive will choose it's oldest and strongest member to undergo a hormonal conversion that results in them molting into a new queen. Lone members of the hive can undergo a similar process as well.

And the least common method is that the xenomorphs will ovomorph a captive host into a royal egg. It's a slow process that's rarely used because of the risk involved to the hive. These new eggs need a host to develop into a queen and are completely vulnerable to harm while gestating and growing. Usually ovomorphing is only used by drones unable to go through the hormonal changes to become a queen themselves or unable to hide and molt safely themselves. Ovomorphing a host and protecting it is easier than hiding and molting for a lone drone.