RI, MA EHS Pest Control Blog

Dreams About Insects: Dream Meanings Explained

Dreams about insects are a common theme at bedtime. If you or a loved one has been covering this ground at night, you may have questions about what it all might mean. As part of a Huffington Post series on dreams and their meanings, we spoke to Cynthia Richmond, author of "Dream Power," and frequent guest on shows like "Oprah" and "Dr. Phil," in Camp Verde, Ariz., to get expert advice about the meanings of dreams about spiders. Note: While dream analysis is highly subjective, this post might provide some insight into why this dream occurred or is recurring.

What do dreams about insects mean?

Richmond says each insect has its own associations. However, when dreaming about insects in general, the dreamer should ask herself what's been annoying or pestering her.

What can I learn about myself from dreaming about this subject?

The subject matter of your dream plays a big role in what you can learn about yourself, says Richmond. For true soul searching, think back to how the bugs were treated in your insect dream. "Often they are being swept under a rug or stepped on," explains Richmond. "That represents the dreamer wanting to ignore the annoyance or end it."

Are there any tricks to avoiding or inducing dreams about insects?

"The only real trick to not having a certain dream is to interpret and understand the meaning so your subconscious mind stops sending the symbol," notes Richmond. To dream about insects, visualize them before dozing off.

Beyond analysis, what cultural symbolism can be found in dreams about insects?

"In Egypt, the beetle is associated with immortality. Bees are associated in many cultures with hard work and organization, as well as producing sweetness, food and the substance of life," says Richmond.

Who tends to have dreams about insects most frequently?

Dreaming about insects is common among males and females of all ages.

What does it mean if I'm completely surrounded/overwhelmed by insects in a dream?

"If you are completely surrounded or overwhelmed by insects, you are probably so annoyed by something or someone that you are ready to freak out," Richmond tells us. "If you are phobic to the insect, you are either ready to overcome the phobia -- by facing it-- or something has pushed you to your limit."

Source: Huffington Post

George Williams,
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA

Big Brains Steal Insects’ Breath Away (From The NY Times)

There is a type of cockroach that can go without breathing for seven minutes at a time, and a moth pupa that can go several hours without breathing. Now a new study in The American Naturalist reports that there is a commonality among insects displaying this behavior: they have large, complex brain structures.

The behavior, known as discontinuous gas exchange, is seen only in certain insects, and only when they are in a resting state.

“If you’ve got a big brain, it’s costly to run,” said Philip Matthews, a physiologist at the University of Queensland in Australia and the study’s lead author. “If you go into a sleeplike state, you can save energy.”

When in this state, the insect will stop breathing for a long period of time, followed by a series of short breaths, and then one long breath.

To conduct the study, Dr. Matthews and a colleague, Craig White, studied the brains of several species of insects that display this behavior.

They found that when the insects’ brains were removed, they displayed discontinuous breathing patterns.

“They have a nerve cord comprised of ganglia, which are kind of like mini-brains,” said Dr. Matthews. “We think that when the insect is active, the brain is sending a constant message to breathe, but when it’s inactive the ganglia take over.”

The breathing pattern has been seen in different species of wasps, ants, moths, butterflies, grasshoppers, beetles and cockroaches.

Previously, scientists have hypothesized that insects display this behavior to more effectively retain water. But this seemed unlikely when the breathing pattern was found among insects in dry deserts and in the humid tropics.

George Williams
General Manager

Pest Control, MA ,  Pest Control, RI