Alright, because I've seen a great number of ridiculous ideas of what the Makuta Mistika are based on, I figured an entry on this would be worthwhile.

Remember that at this stage, these ideas are not laid in stone. Most are merely ideas, albeit ones which I think to be true, and I would be overjoyed if someone can come with a vastly different idea and demonstrate why they feel theirs is correct. Seriously, however awkward some might be, there is a reason you think them to be true, and perhaps a legitimate reason for me to think the same.

Let's begin:

• Gorast has two thin wings-- a trait mosquitoes share.
• Gorast's attitude is characterized by an almost suicidal persistence.
• D'oh! Gorast has a
  stinger!
  I can't believe I forgot that one! Thanks to Mr. Spock for reminding me.
• Gorast is described as "lightthirsty" by Krika in BIONICLE Legends #10. This makes perfectly clear what should already have been evident from the vampiric Makuta Phantoka: light in this sense is the BIONICLE equivalent of blood. Mosquitoes, sucking blood, are therefore the foremost candidate for Gorast's real-world origin.

• Bitil's head, keeping the other similarities in mind, looks much like it should for a beetle-based Makuta, although other insects have similar heads.
• Bitil has large, platelike wings-- a trait that is obvious in the wings, or rather wing covers, of beetles.
• Bitil's name is in fact identical, if I remember correctly, to the Old English origin of the word "beetle." This was the similarity people noticed long before pictures of the sets were even released.

• Krika has spiky legs, like some crickets but also like a number of other insects.
• Krika's face is relatively cricketlike, most notably sharing the highly evident antennae of a cricket and the roundedness of the face. The face's overall shape differs from the taller heads of most crickets, however.

Alternatively (and far more likely-seeming at the time), it is possible that Krika is based on a mantis, specifically a species called the Orchid Mantis.

• Krika can literally "disappear" into the swamp. The Orchid mantis has a similar talent for camouflage, although of course nowhere near as perfect as the magic of BIONICLE powers will allow.
• Mantises are noted for their long and spiky forelimbs, which hang in front of them as Krika's would had he other legs to support him.
• The Orchid Mantis can shift from a pinkish-red to a ghostly white. Krika is, like a picture provided recently in the (woe is me!) official 2008 sets topic, is somewhere between the two colors.

Offer whatever comments you have; I have seemingly bottomless curiosity based on the sort of questions I tend to ask Greg.

With all due respect,

Aanchir: Rachira of Time