Thus in part are explained the illusions produced by a sound which seems to come first from one point, then from another, when the timid insect is alarmed.
The production of loud or soft resounding or muffled notes, which gives the illusion of distance, the principal element in the art of the ventriloquist, has another and easily discovered source.

To produce the loud, open sounds the wing-covers are fully lifted; to produce the muted, muffled notes they are lowered.

When lowered their outer edges press more or less lightly on the soft flanks of the insect, thus diminishing the vibratory area and damping the sound.
The gentle touch of a finger-tip muffles the sharp, loud ringing of a glass tumbler or "musical-glass" and changes it into a veiled, indefinite sound which seems to come from a distance.

The White Cricket knows this secret of acoustics.

It misleads those that seek it by pressing the edge of its vibrating membranes to the soft flesh of its abdomen.