Hiker Finds Tiny Creatures Doing The Boogie-Woogie Around A Leaf

October 27, 2022

Imagine you're in the woods and you spot these tiny alien-looking bugs doing a dance around a leaf.

That's what happened to this hiker, who filmed the bizarre behavior and posted it to Reddit.

"Found some tiny strange bugs dancing around a leaf while hiking," he said. "Someone please tell me what the heck they are?"

It turns out they are beech blight aphids, commonly called "boogie woogie aphids". They form dense colonies on small branches and the undersides of leaves.

This aphid has a defensive behavior in that it raises the posterior end of its body and sways from side to side when disturbed, hence the name "boogie woogie" aphids.