It is strongly associated with tropical evergreen forest but occurs in regions of dry deciduous forest near moist habitats. This species tends to roost in caves, hollow trees, road culverts and buildings. The colonies are small (fewer than six individuals), but larger maternity colonies are sometimes found in deep caves. In the Amazon forest and in Bahia this species has a patchy distribution (Faria pers. comm.). There is some evidence that the young associate with a parent for a considerable period. This bat flies low through the forest understory to forage over streams or other wet areas (Eisenberg 1989, Reid 1997). Although they eat insects, these bats are active predators and also feed on lizards, other mammals (including some bats), birds and frogs. Some individuals of this species may specialize on frogs (Tuttle et al. 1982). Indeed, some frog species have been under considerable selection to produce calls that render them less conspicuous to the ears of the predators, the bat can also discriminate between poisonous and edible species on the basis of their calls. A single young is produced near the end of the dry season (Reid 1997).

This bat ranges from lowlands to 1,400 m asl (Reid 1997) in Central and South America. This bat is distributed from Oaxaca, southern Mexico, south through the Isthmus and ranges broadly over the tropical portions of South America to southeastern Brazil, and also Trinidad (Eisenberg 1989, Reid 1997).

It is recommended to reduce habitat loss. This species occurs in a number of protected areas throughout its range. In Mexico, it is listed as threatened under NOM - 059 - SEMARNAT - 2001 (Arroyo-Vabrales pers. comm.).