Insects are the most numerous group of animals residing in our world. By its multitude, it was not difficult for man to use these usually small beings for divination based on them. Entomomancy comes from the Greek entomos "insect" and the manteia of "divination."
It is based on reading the future, the present and the past based on the behavior of insects. Entonomancy has infiltrated the folklore of many nations, e.g. in the form of a ladybug perceived as happiness , or a messenger of requests to be carried to heaven.
The most popular type of entomomancy is myromancy consisting in reading fortune-telling from the behavior of ants, mainly how they feed.
As ants inhabit many continents, ancient Greeks and African tribes such as Zandes bode on their basis. The first saw in the ants the announcement of the death of Cimon (Athenian leader and politician) and disseminated the legend of how ants came to Midas when he was a boy. When he dreamed, they threw wheat grains into his mouth. The bite of the ant was received as a quarrel forecast.
In the case of the said African tribe, the way the ants eat was hoped to read the future. They also used termite mounds for the same purpose.
One of our earlier entries described the practice of detecting a killer with the help of a beetle placed above the grave of the victim. He read the traces he left, hoping to find a clue about the name of the murderer.
Bees, which pollinate many plants, play a huge role in our lives, and they lived up to superstition about themselves. They are usually good fortune-telling, and the insect is useful. The appearance of the bee at home was to bring luck, while killing it was unlucky.
Among other insects that were popular in divination, you can find: beetles, cockroaches, dragonflies, grasshoppers and crickets.