All records of this species have been associated with freshwater swamps and rivers. Bonaccorso (1998) captured a postlactating female that was not reproductively active in January.

Lesser Tube-nosed Bat is considered to occur mostly south of the central cordillera of New Guinea between Mt. Bosavi in Papua New Guinea to the Asmat regency in the Papua Province of Indonesia. The type locality is the Lorentz River (in Papua Province, Indonesia). Records from north of the central highlands (Bonaccorso 1998) require confirmation. It has been recorded from sea level up to 100 m asl. Further survey effort is required to determine the extent of the distribution. While the taxonomic work of Irwin (2017) has provided the means to distinguish the species N. certans, N. ‘albiventer’ papuanus and N. cyclotis, she did not include N. draconilla and thus there is still a possibility for misidentification of this species. Examination of museum specimens and genetic sequencing will help to define the area of occupancy and distribution limits of N. draconilla.

Broadscale protection of forests will help maintain population size in this species. Further studies into the species’ taxonomy, ecology, threats, distribution, and population size and trends are needed.