The next time someone accuses you of being as blind as a bat, your reply could be that they know absolutely nothing about bats!
For, contrary to popular belief, bats do see.
This and many other interesting snippets of information about these creatures of the night can be gleaned from the curator of an exhibition about bats being held at the Natural History Museum in Mdina until the end of the month.
Another misconception, for example, is that bats should be feared. "Bats are harmless. They eat only insects, many of which are regarded as harmful to humans," said John J. Borg, officer in charge of the museum, who has been researching bats since 1987.
The exhibition, from Mr Borg's personal collection, aims at instilling greater appreciation of bats among the public. Publications, soft toys of bats, postcards, stamps and scientific equipment used in bat studies are all on display.
Although there are 11 species of bat recorded in Malta, only six have been regularly seen over the past years, five of them residents and another which migrates and winters in Malta.
Bats have been in Malta for thousands of years - fossils from Ghar Dalam show that some species still in existence have been here for at least 250,000 years.
Worldwide, there are some 950 species of bats, divided into two groups: the flying foxes or fruit bats, and the smaller bats. Some 31 species are known in Europe.
Mr Borg said that up to the end of the previous century, reference to bats in Maltese scientific literature was almost always in the form of lists. No work had been carried out on status and distribution, let alone on their ecology and biology.
Studies have shown that there are three main bat colonies in Malta, with around 300 bats in each and found in caves or underground tunnels. There are several other places where small colonies of bats live.
Bats sometimes move from one roost to another and back to the original roost the following night.
Some bats can live rather long. The longest surviving greater horseshoe bat in Europe is known to have lived for at least 37 years. In Malta, an adult of the same species is known to have lived for at least 10.
Mr Borg said the number of bats in Malta has declined for several reasons. Many of their roosting sites have been destroyed or disturbed. Some people, especially hunters, still kill them, even though bats are a protected species.
Bats are helpful because they consume thousands of insects. Studies abroad have shown that a bat can eat 1,200 night flying insects in just one hour - mosquitoes, the bane of people out barbecuing, are a favourite.
The sense of smell is well developed in most bats and it is used to find and identify certain foods and to recognise roost mates and their young.
Bats' eyes are better at seeing in the dark. Most see objects only in black and white, but colour vision is known to exist in some fruit bats.
Bats are able to hang upside down in their roosts from their strong claws and fly by using their hands and wings. They also have fur or hair on their bodies, which provides camouflage and helps keep them warm in winter. They actually groom their fur like cats do.
But people should remember that bats are wild animals and should never be touched.
Mr Borg said the greatest harm to bats is not knowing anything about them, and this creates fear and dislike which in turn leads to their destruction.
Many believe bats are blind because they fly at night and depend on very good hearing to find food and to get around in the dark. They also use their keen sense of hearing to locate their babies.
Bats do not get entangled in people's hair either. They are much too smart to fly into people. Many dislike bats as they think they are related to mice, but although bats and mice are both mammals, mice are rodents while bats are more closely related to primates and people. And mice cannot fly.