I enjoyed Martin S. Kottmeyer's "Graying Mantis" [May 1999], with its long list of mantis-like (and other "bug"-like) aliens and other mythical figures in the literature and film of popular culture. I was surprised to notice one omission: the locust-like Martians who created humanity and linger as a racial memory or archetype, their antennae being remembered as horns on devils' heads, in the 1968 Hammer film Five Million Years to Earth, part of the Quatermass series. Surely this was a noteworthy contribution to the popularity of insect/alien imagery. (See a review at: http://www.filmlinc.com/fcm/3-4-97/five.htm)
Also, Robert Anton Wilson's book Cosmic Trigger (vol. 1) commented on parallels between modern Ufology and the old Fairy Faith, including the recurrent tales of abduction by fairies or elves, now reprised as abduction by flying saucer crews. Surely it becomes relevant to mention the insectile elements of fairy imagery, such as wings.
Good article, Mr. Kottmeyer!
John S. L. Singleton
Milwaukee, WI
