Adults live under objects or among mosses in swamps, boggy streams and wet, wooded or open areas near ponds or quiet, mossy or grassy/sedgy pools (the larval habitat). Sphagnum moss is commonly abundant in suitable habitat. Eggs are laid in moss or other protected sites immediately above or next to a pool, into which the larvae drop or wriggle after hatching. It does not require pristine habitat; Phillips et al. (1999) noted that in Illinois "several localities are second-growth woods in soggy soils below dams of man-made lakes."

This species is discontinuously distributed in the USA and Canada from Nova Scotia (Friet and MacDonald 1995), New Brunswick, southern Quebec (e.g., Sharbel 1990), southern Ontario, Michigan, Wisconsin (Vogt 1981) and Minnesota (Dorff 1995, Hall et al. 2000), south to southeastern Oklahoma, Louisiana (Dundee and Rossman 1989), Mississippi, Alabama (Mount 1975), Florida panhandle, and Georgia (Conant and Collins 1991). Its distribution is fairly continuous in the northeastern part of the range, while spotty in the southwestern part.

Conservation Actions In-Place
This species is present in many protected areas throughout its range. 

Conservation Needed
No conservation measures are needed at present.