This bat can be easily recognised when roosting by its alertness and crab-like behaviour when crawling sideways on a vertical wall. The fur is greyish above with pale white or cream below (figure 7), with the white just touching the chin where a dark spot is present in males. The face is relatively hairless and ears are usually held flat against the head, which is lifted from the roosting wall in a lizard-like fashion when disturbed. Wings are pointy and narrow with light-coloured membranes; they have a fast flying pattern, keeping low over grass veldts or open spaces.

Forearm length is 60-66 mm and its mass is approximately 27-36 grams¹⁰. 

 

They don’t roost inside roofs or dark hollows as most insect-eating bats do, but are rather found to roost on the outside of walls under the eaves of a roof or in large tree trunks, rondawels and the trunks of Chinese fan palms and royal palms. Roosting colonies are generally small groups of about 5 bats though they may occasionally grow to about 30 individuals. They appear to be constantly vigilant and awake while roosting^{8, 10}. Seasonal migrations are suspected but not proven, and the migration locations are unknown.

 

Two distinct birth periods are present: November - December and February – April, when a single young is born per birth period^{8, 10}.