The Lesser Bare-backed Fruit Bat has been recorded from primary and secondary forest, swamp forest, and subsistence gardens. The species roosts amongst broad-leafed foliage, singly or in small groups, usually in the forest understory. Unlike many of its congeners, it has not been found in cave roosts.
This is a frugivorous species, and has been recorded feeding on the introduced invasive Piper aduncum and figs Ficus spp. Near Madang, the Lesser Bare-backed Fruit Bat maintained small home ranges of around 5 ha that encompassed patches of P. aduncum and figs, and core usage areas shifted in response to the fruiting patterns of the figs within the home range (Bonaccorso et al. 2002).
Females give birth to a single young, and some evidence suggests they may have two litters per year with probable birth peaks in January/February and June/July (Bonaccorso 1998).

This species ranges widely through the island of New Guinea (Indonesia and Papua New Guinea), except montane regions, and is also present on Yapen Island, Indonesia (Bergmans and Sarbini 1985, Flannery 1995a, 1995b). A record from Sulawesi, Indonesia (Boeadi and Bergmans 1987), probably represents  a misidentification of another species. It ranges from sea level up to 700 m asl (Helgen 2007).

It occurs in a number of protected areas.