Where do Alien's get all the biomass for their chestburster to drone transformation?

[SpaceJockey]

On the Xenomorph diet subject, I'm pretty sure when ever a xenomorph bites someone's head that can be considered eating. And I'm sure they did that a few times in the movies, including Resurrection.

[FURY 161]

They don't kil everyone though. Some of the victims are brought back to the queen for facehugger reproduction. The queen probably eats a couple for herself also. Just guesing

[deskxal]

Maybe they eat other ****, like metal. Maybe they can absorb air. Idk. No one Ks.

[Sh0dan]

Personally I am not a fan of the xenos eating (Kudos to Mikey for recognising some things in the aliens mythos shouldn't be answered), like its life-cycle, I think its actually better when the xeno biological functions are not recognisable to us. It is an alien after all, the way it grows and how it gains energy could be extraordinarily different than how Earth based life-forms grow and sustain themselves. And as a peice of fiction its better if that is more fascinating / unusual, I.E. alien.

BTW, I remember where I read the leaching nutrients thing now, it was the Aliens fansite, Anchorpoint Essays. (Good reading for anyone interested in xenobiology theories or writing Aliens material)

The writer examines some good theories about the xenobiology.

I particularly like this one:

It has been hypothesized that the Alien aboard the Nostromo managed to infiltrate the ship's food stores - however, this has never been verified. With the amount of food available and the creature's apparent metabolic rate this may account for the Alien's growth. Yet the vast majority of the chestbursters that were born on LV-426 did not have the installation's food stores at their disposal. So then what did the hatchlings ingest? Working with I. raptus' biology (a biology based on, carbon, fluorine, and silicon), and its nature as a biomechanical organism, it is thought that the creature may be able to rely on inorganic material as a means of assail the needs of the an extremely high metabolism: specifically carbon-rich compounds and minerals deposits. Because carbon is the most astronomically common element in the galaxy (over 10 million carbon compounds are known to exist, with thousands being vital to organic life and life sustenance) I. raptus would have a wide array of ingestible possibilities, regardless of the environment.