User blog comment:Dragonzzilla/ME3 Multiplayer DLC I Ideas/@comment-5069762-20120501190136/@comment-4310096-20120502105741

The reapers were able to clone the Rachni queen in ME3 when you killed the original one in the first game. If they could clone the Rachni, they sure could clone the collectors. In fact, that would be even easier, given that the collectors are specifically created by the Reapers. As for their viability for the reapers: they were quite good at abducting human colonies in the second game, they sure would be in the third. The codex entry "Miracle of Palaven" even mentions "Collector Swarms", so it could either be the Seeker swarms or the collectors themselves.