Sphaeronycteris toxophyllum is habitat specialist; though it prefers primary habitat, it has been found in secondary forests in Venezuela (Ochoa per comm) and it is known from well-preserved and highly intervened habitats (Rodríguez-P. and Cárdenas-G. 2012). Poorly known in terms of most of its ecology, but some recent information is improving this situation (Angulo and Diaz 2004, Angulo et al. 2012). Its wide distribution suggests certain ecological plasticity (Rodríguez-P. and Cárdenas-G. 2012). The species may follow gallery forest into dry habitats but is usually associated with multistratal tropical evergreen forest, and may be able to tolerate man-made clearings. The diet of these bats in unknown, but it is probably primarily frugivorous (Gardner 1977). A pregnant female was collected in Bolivia in October (Anderson and Webster 1983). In Venezuela, females were pregnant when taken in February, April, July, August, and October, and lactating females were caught from April through October. A Colombian female from Puerto Nariño, Amazonas, was pregnant when taken in April (Gardner 2008).

This species occurs from Venezuela and eastern Colombia, east of the Andes, south to Amazonian Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia, and northwestern Brazil (Angulo et al. 2008, Gardner 2008). In Venezuela, specimens have been taken at up to 2,240 m (Handley 1976) and records from Colombia include elevations up to 2600 m (Rodríguez-P- and Cárdenas-G. 2012), but most localities are from the Amazonian lowlands

Further research on distribution, abundance, basic ecology and threats is required. Maintain intact habitat. The species is present on several protected areas on the Amazonian versant of the Andes.