Heritage Malta is organising a unique experience for natural history lovers at night.

The protagonists of the event will be bats and moths. The event will be held on Saturday at 7.30pm, as there will be no moon on the day, which makes it ideal to observe these two creatures.

Bats fly at night and find their way by echolocation. They send high-pitched noises which cannot be heard by humans and use the echo from their surroundings to find their way around and to detect flying insects. A bat detector is used to locate and identify bats. This apparatus detects the sounds made by bats and converts them into sounds that can be heard by humans.

Moths are studied by using a moth trap. This consists of an ultraviolet lamp placed in front of a white background. The moths are attracted by the ultraviolet rays and end up in the trap, where they can be studied before being released.

The event will consist of a presentation on bats and moths, a bat walk, during which participants would hear different species of bats by means of a bat detector, and a visit to a moth-trapping site to see different species of moths attracted to a source of UV light.

The moths will be identified and immediately released in the same area where they were captured.

Tickets at €12 for adults and €10 for seniors, students, Heritage Malta members and children under 12 are available from all Heritage Malta sites and museums or online at http://shop.heritagemalta.org . Finger food and drinks will be available.

For more information, one may call 2165 7419 or follow Heritage Malta’s Facebook page.