Dreaming about insects: meaning, variations and what science says

Dreaming about insects: the direct answer

Dream interpretation is not prediction and not diagnosis. This article separates what sleep research observes from what popular interpretation associates with the theme, always saying which is which.

Dreaming about insects does not announce illness, a plague at home or someone's envy. It is a dream tied to annoyances: small things that, added together, take away your peace, such as overdue tasks, petty demands or an environment that seems out of control. When the creatures are on your body or in your bed, the feeling of disgust and intrusion is usually the center of the scene. Insects flying in the distance, in an open field, appear more often in calm or curious dreams.

Read also: Dreaming about cockroaches and Dreaming about ants.

Why insects invade your sleep

Research on the continuity between waking life and dreaming, reviewed by Michael Schredl in 2003, shows that dreams follow what fills your days. A cleaning session that revealed ants in the sink, a mosquito buzzing before bed, a video about an infestation: all of that can become a scene at night, sometimes enlarged and multiplied.

Since William Dement and Edward Wolpert's classic 1958 study, it has also been known that stimuli during sleep, such as a spray of water on the skin, can be woven into the plot. A scratchy pillow, heat or a real mosquito in the room find a ready translation: creatures crawling along your arm. Not every dream has a physical trigger, but it is worth considering that possibility before looking for hidden meanings.

Sources: Schredl and Hofmann, Continuity between waking activities and dream activities, Consciousness and Cognition, 2003; Dement and Wolpert, Journal of Experimental Psychology, 1958.

Science and belief: Freud, Jung and the traditions

In Freud's psychoanalysis. The Interpretation of Dreams includes the dream of a patient who kept two beetles in a box: one escapes through the window and the other is crushed by the frame when she closes it. The day before, her daughter had shown her a moth fallen into a glass of water, which she did not remove; at night, she had read a story of cruelty to a cat. Freud called these details precipitating causes, irrelevant in themselves, which pulled up far more personal memories.

In Jung's psychology. In Man and His Symbols, Jung uses insects to defend the idea of inherited instincts: most of them never meet their parents and still perform complex functions without anyone teaching them. The book places side by side the golden scarab of Egypt, a symbol of the sun, and an engraving by James Ensor with people whose bodies are dark and repulsive like insects. In the Jungian key, the creature in the dream can lean toward one of these poles: organized instinct or the shadowy side that causes revulsion.

In symbols and faith. A Dictionary of Symbols, by Chevalier and Gheerbrant, records that, among the Yakuts and the Chuvash, the soul leaves through the mouth of the sleeper to travel, usually in the form of an insect or a butterfly. In Central America, small flying insects are seen as souls of the dead visiting the earth; in Guatemala, that belief links them to the stars. In Egypt, the scarab corresponded to the verb kheper, something like coming into existence by taking a form.

Bringing both readings together. Science explains the swarm through a hectic day or an itch in the sheets; traditions ask whether that creature was a pest or a messenger. Before choosing, notice whether the scene brought disgust or wonder: that difference usually says more than the species.

Sources: Freud, Die Traumdeutung, 1900; Jung (ed.), Man and His Symbols; Chevalier and Gheerbrant, A Dictionary of Symbols.

The most common versions of this dream

When the creature in the dream has a definite name, the specific articles help more, such as the one on dreaming about flies.

See also: Dreaming about a lizard and Dreaming about a hippopotamus.

When the dream deserves professional attention

Dreaming about insects now and then is common and does not indicate a problem. If the dream of creatures on your skin keeps repeating, you wake up scratching or start to fear going to sleep, it is worth talking to a health professional. Real and frequent itching during the night also deserves evaluation, with or without the dream. Recurring nightmares have treatment: see how to reduce nightmares.

Source: Morgenthaler and colleagues, Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, 2018.

Dreaming about insects in dream books

Dream books usually reserve an entry for each creature, and the same bee or the same cockroach can receive opposite meanings from one edition to the next. Freud called this procedure the "decoding" method: each image is swapped for another, as in a fixed code key, without asking the dreamer anything, and he considered it insufficient. With insects, the limitation is obvious: the same ant reminds one person of a childhood picnic and another of the sink that keeps attracting bugs.

Source: Freud, Die Traumdeutung, 1900.

What folk tradition associates with this dream

In Brazilian folk reading, insects are usually tied to gossip, envy or small losses, especially when they appear in large numbers inside the house. Killing the creatures is read as overcoming annoyances; insects flying away, as problems leaving. Ladybugs and fireflies get lighter readings, of luck and hope. These are cultural beliefs, not predictions. To understand how they coexist with science, see what dream meanings look like according to science and culture.