--- title: "These Dancing Bugs Are Straight Out of a Miyazaki Film" description: "Don't we all wish sometimes that real life could be as fantastical as the films of Hayao Miyazaki — or at least have food that looks just as delicious?" date: "2022-10-28" modified: "2022-10-28" authors: - name: "Frank Landymore" job_title: "Contributing Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/flandymore" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/dancing-bugs-miyazaki-film" categories: - "Science & Energy" tags: - "bugs" - "insects" - "the digest" - "wildlife" --- # These Dancing Bugs Are Straight Out of a Miyazaki Film ![Your eyes do not deceive you. These dancing, fuzzy bugs are real, and, yes, they're shaking their rear ends in unison to keep you way.]() *\Image: NatureServe via Flickr\* ## Life Imitates Art Don't we all wish sometimes that real life could be as fantastical as the films of Hayao Miyazaki — or at least have food that looks just as delicious? Well, [one Redditor]() stumbled on some downright strange bugs that look like those cute little [soot sprites]() in "Spirited Away" and "My Neighbor Totoro," and we absolutely adore them. Just look at the little guys swaying back and forth like they're having the time of their life in an insect dance-off. "Someone please tell me what the heck they are?" the Redditor implored [in a thread](). "They were on a walking path only around one single leaf." https://twitter.com/ry_paddy/status/1585536327570886656 ## Boogie-Woogie Internet sleuths were quickly on the case and determined that the bugs are what's known as — and we're not making this up — "boogie woogie aphids," or beech blight aphids. The partying fluffballs are indeed a [species of woolly aphid]() that feed off the sap of beech trees and typically form colonies on a tree's branches or under its leaves. They're not believed to be harmful to their hosts, but they do leave behind a [black, soot-like fungi]() on a tree's branches, and also excrete honeydew. "So these are basically the white little spirits in 'Princess Mononoke,'" replied one astute commenter on the Reddit video, referring to another Miyazaki masterpiece. When disturbed by potential predators, the aphids raise their fluffy derrieres to the air and shake them in unison, which is the amusing behavior captured in the Redditor's video. ## War Ritual However, according to [a decade-old *Scientific American* piece](), the boogie woogie aphid's rear-end raving is actually only performed by its nymphs, not adults. And the nymphs are really aggressive, ruthlessly dispatching several moth larvae in one [2001 study that *SciAm* cited](). That makes the funny, fuzzy dancing "less sweet fairy jig and more menacing war-dance performed by children," in *SciAm*'s analysis. But, uh, don't let that ruin the endearment. **More on insects:** *[Inventor of Cyborg Cockroach Says It Will Only Be Used for Good]()* ## Author At Futurism, my work has often centered on bringing a sense of clarity and insight to complex topics ranging from the regulation of emerging technologies to the esoteric ideologies of Silicon Valley executives, while striving not to lose the poetic sense of awe inspired by often-obscure fields like astrophysics and quantum computing. I broke the story of CNET using AI to produce articles that turned out to be riddled with factual errors and plagiarism — a dam-breaking inflection point, as I've reported, that's inspired copycats and endless discourse while beguiling stakeholders ranging from tech giants to purveyors of spam around the web. My work at Futurism has been cited by publications including CBS News, the Los Angeles Times, Vice, Gizmodo, Engadget, the Verge, and Vanity Fair. I grew up in locales ranging from India to China, and now live in the exotic suburbs of Virginia. In my free time, I'm an avid reader of weird sci-fi literature, an aficionado of East Asian cinema, and, regrettably, a relapsed gamer. Allegedly, I’m working on a debut novel, currently untitled. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()