Not all Wraith hives have queens

[COMMANDER SIVOK]

Todd said this was the reason he could not get 12 hives for the battle, with out a queen they could not replace their lost soldiers. This got me thinking how do the Wraith reproduce. I think it would be really cool to see an episode that deals with this. Thoughts.

[jenks]

We should be finding out in the next episode.

[Zafuel]

My guess would be that the "commander" Wraith; the ones who appear without the mask, are the male sexually mature part of the species, and the queen is the female part. The soldiers are presumably either genderless or they mature into the commanders.

And then the queens must mature from the same part of the species as the Wraith girl in Instinct.

Still, would be nice to go into it in a future episode.

[Winter]

My guess would be that the "commander" Wraith; the ones who appear without the mask, are the male sexually mature part of the species, and the queen is the female part. The soldiers are presumably either genderless or they mature into the commanders.

And then the queens must mature from the same part of the species as the Wraith girl in Instinct.

Still, would be nice to go into it in a future episode.

I don't remember what ep it was that the team was walking through a clearing and Shep was joking about Wraith sex or something and McKay corrected him saying that Wraith didn't work that way - or he didn't think so.

Someone help me out here - some of you people here have photographic memories when it comes to eps so I know someone will remember this scene and what ep it was from.

I think the soldiers are produced asexually - they're probably genderless as you said Zafuel but I believe they stay that way. They are the expendable ones and can be produced quickly en masse.

Who knows how the others come to be if they don't work like us as McKay said. I'm remembering back to the episode where Shep started turning into a Wraith and they had to go into the Iratus cave. The Iratus had eggs. . .Problem is who knows how the eggs came to be. Some creatures (even on Earth) reproduce asexually (boring!! LOL I would hope our lovely writers wouldn't be so cruel! LOL)

Anyone have any ideas/speculations?

[Pharaoh Atem]

Todd said this was the reason he could not get 12 hives for the battle, with out a queen they could not replace their lost soldiers. This got me thinking how do the Wraith reproduce. I think it would be really cool to see an episode that deals with this. Thoughts.

'Spoils of War' is going to be a wraith tell all episode http://www.gateworld.net/atlantis/s4/412.shtml

[P-90_177]

It would make sense that the queens reproduce a-sexually. afterall for the most part the wraith all seem to look alike. even the commanders. so easiest explanation is that all the wraith that come from a particular queen are genetically identical.

[Pharaoh Atem]

and we know the solders are clones (confirmed my Marty G

[Winter]

and we know the solders are clones (confirmed my Marty G

Really? Where? Can you give me a link?

[SGFerrit]

Todd said this was the reason he could not get 12 hives for the battle, with out a queen they could not replace their lost soldiers. This got me thinking how do the Wraith reproduce. I think it would be really cool to see an episode that deals with this. Thoughts.

We see this in the next episode.

SoW Trailer 1.
SoW Trailer 2.

[Pharaoh Atem]

Really? Where? Can you give me a link?

it was in a season 2 audio commentary i believe ..don't remember off hand which episode

[kymeric]

Todd said this was the reason he could not get 12 hives for the battle, with out a queen they could not replace their lost soldiers. This got me thinking how do the Wraith reproduce. I think it would be really cool to see an episode that deals with this. Thoughts.

They had an unsustainable population for 10,000+ years, but in the last few years theyve been whittled down alot by the earthlings, a civil war and the the replicator war. I wonder how many more we have to kill before their numbers are at a sustainable level?

Guess we would need a general headcount of wraith and a general idea of how many humans they have to feed on over a specific amount of time, plus the average birth and maturity rate of humans. It makes sense that if theres only 5-10 hives left they could live off a reasonable number of human worlds.

Kinda sucks for those in wraith territory that theyre cattle, but its good for all those outside it. Maybe if they shared some tech, WRAITH PETA. Just because youre gonna feed on them dosent mean you have to make their lives suck. Maybe share some tech, maybe make them comfortable and happy for 40 yrs then its snack time. Remember ritual suicide world? its not that hard to make ppl believe death at a certain age is awesome.

Be like the movie the island only with less suck.

[The Prophet]

Logan's Run, but with Wraiths?

[ijffdrie]

somehow i think they are heading to the wraith capital planet, which is hidden outside the galaxy

[Winter]

They had an unsustainable population for 10,000+ years, but in the last few years theyve been whittled down alot by the earthlings, a civil war and the the replicator war. I wonder how many more we have to kill before their numbers are at a sustainable level?

Guess we would need a general headcount of wraith and a general idea of how many humans they have to feed on over a specific amount of time, plus the average birth and maturity rate of humans. It makes sense that if theres only 5-10 hives left they could live off a reasonable number of human worlds.

Kinda sucks for those in wraith territory that theyre cattle, but its good for all those outside it. Maybe if they shared some tech, WRAITH PETA. Just because youre gonna feed on them dosent mean you have to make their lives suck. Maybe share some tech, maybe make them comfortable and happy for 40 yrs then its snack time. Remember ritual suicide world? its not that hard to make ppl believe death at a certain age is awesome.

Be like the movie the island only with less suck.

Yikes! I don't agree! I do however think that the Wraith could be less destructive - how wasteful is something like Sateda? They destroyed an entire world full of humans and for what? DUMB! The Wraith are more than capable of taking what they need without killing too many and destroying civilizations - they just need to do it.

[Winter]

It would make sense that the queens reproduce a-sexually. afterall for the most part the wraith all seem to look alike. even the commanders. so easiest explanation is that all the wraith that come from a particular queen are genetically identical.

They do all seem to look alike but that could also be attributed to the short supply of females - their source for new genetic material is a very shallow pool, so to speak.

I can see the Soldiers being clones - it makes sense. Something like a clone would come from asexual reproduction. She would be able to produce many soldiers in a short time. BUT, if the soldiers were straight out clones there would be no need for a female.

As for the commanders - If all Wraith came from asexual reproduction, there should be no sexually distinguishing features as there would be no need. They would all be either female or genderless. Asexual reproduction however is very inefficient for a creature in an obviously unstable environment. In order for the Wraith to adjust to changing needs or to evolve they would need diversity. If they cannot get that diversity, they will die out.

I guess we'll see what the writers have in store for us Friday. But speculating is SO much fun!