What are the five new alien species from 'Alien: Earth'?

If you hate bugs, we regret to inform you that one of the new alien species discovered by the crew of the Maginot on Alien: Earth will truly make your skin crawl. These ticks, for lack of a better term, can burrow into the body of one of their victims. There, they feed on their insides until the sacks in the rear of their bodies become filled with blood. We see this happen to poor Prodigy special forces in episode two. Grossest part of all? Once they implant themselves inside a host body, they gestate inside until multiple bug creatures explode out of the host.

The T. Ocellus, or “Octopus Eye” Is the Creepiest New Alien Species on Alien: Earth

While the “ticks” might be the most icky new alien on Alien: Earth, the octopus eye might be the creepiest. The T. Ocellus, as the crew of the Maginot called it, travels around octopus tentacles, and can tear out the eye of a mammal-like creature, and implant itself in its eye socket, taking over the body. At first, it does so with a cat, which then attacks several hybrids. Of all the new alien species, this one might be the one that comes closest to human intelligence. It might even be sentient. The Octopus Eye alien sure spells trouble for all the characters on Alien: Earth.

The “Orchid,” or Plant Pod, Looks Like a Plant, But Probably Is a Carnivorous Alien 

Most of the alien species found by the crew of the Maginot are insect-like, or even appear like a sea creature (like the Octopus Eye). But one of them, which we believe is called “the Orchid,” is some kind of plant. The synth Kirsh (Timothy Olyphant) comments, “It presents as flora, but it may be fauna.” The Orchid is definitely larger than anything similar found on Earth, like a Venus Flytrap. It has a tentacle that comes out when the petals unfurl, which we can assume is deadly to everyone it encounters. Flora or not, we wouldn’t want to stop and smell this new Alien: Earth species of alien.

The Fly Nest Is Buzzing with Danger

The so-called ticks are not the only extraterrestrial bugs appearing on Alien: Earth. We’ve also got a nest of flies, which seems to live inside a hornet’s nest from our own world. We don’t know much about these critters yet, except that they can fly around and grow rather large. And we know there’s nothing good that come from that. All of these new alien species are parasites of some kind, so we expect the same from these alien flies on Alien: Earth. Plus, the fly is Earth’s most annoying bug… so if we extrapolate from there.

The Xenomorph Isn’t a New Alien, But It Is THE Alien

Finally, on Alien: Earth, we have our classic Xenomorph, the face of the Alien franchise. This seems to be the very same species from the original Alien, complete with eggs which produce face-huggers to plant its embryos in people. So far, everything about this Xenomorph is identical to the ones we’ve known since Ridley Scott’s original 1979 film, designed by H.R. Giger. But who knows what it will become in the future of the series. There could be a whole new twist waiting for this familiar alien species on Alien: Earth.

Alien: Earth Sets Up the Possibility of Countless New Alien Species

Alien: Earth wisely sets forth that if there’s one deadly alien species out there, there are probably countless other ones. While Alien: Earth season one has made it clear it will be sticking with these five alien species this season, should the show and franchise continue to evolve, we may well see many new aliens joining the fray. And so we say, godspeed to all new Alien protganists out there.

Alien: Earth drops new episodes every Tuesday on FX and FX on Hulu.