Originally created in Chicago's predominately African American neighborhoods, the dance has morphed from its beginnings with the Jitterbug in the 1930s and 1940s, to the Offtime in the 1950s, to the Walk and the Chicago Bop in the 1960s and 1970s.
The "jitterbug" was a bug sent by the Wicked Witch of the West to waylay the heroes by forcing them to do a jitterbug-style dance.
The refrain that they sing is: "Oh, the bats and the bees and the breeze in the trees have a terrible, horrible buzz. ... So, be careful of that rascal/Keep away from The Jitterbug." The Jitterbug puts a magical influence on the characters, forcing them to dance the Jitterbug frenetically.
One such example is Decca's 1939 album of songs from The Wizard of Oz, which featured Judy Garland singing Over the Rainbow and the deleted song The Jitterbug, but the Ken Darby Singers singing the rest of the score.
Chrysoritis zeuxo, the jitterbug daisy copper, a butterfly species found in South Africa