Every one of those dark spots is a husk.
Remember I mentioned molting? They crawl from the ground, gain ground on trees or - in this case - a man-made object, and pop out of their exoskeleton, reborn with wings. I have yet to see one of them climbing, one of the wingless before they break out.
But since I've been watching all the live bugs crawling and flying around in the yard all day and see none now, I'm guessing the daily cycle is emerge in the morning, husk-out, fly and eat and - I guess - mate. I've got to do some more reading.
I did hear more horror stories today at my daughter's 6th grade graduation, about the streets being a bug muck, about people who say it looked like their front porch was moving, so covered it was. And the smell. If all these bugs do, while covering our reality, is eat to mate and die, that's a lot of organic material. One rotting bug is not a concern. A million is said to be pretty awful.
And the noise is already pretty bad - during the day, at least. I guess the misleading aspect of the first few days is that everything eats them - birds, bats, spiders, etc. But they're so big, that soon these animals get tired of the snack and/or fill up. And then the high point of the bell curve of population hits. And as the cicada shit hits the proverbial peak, I'll be there with my camera, making you squirm.
But back to the husks. You know you want a close-up.
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