This adaptable species is found in primary and secondary habitats, and in both rural and urban areas. It roosts in temples, caves, hollow trees, palm fronds, roofs, crevices, cracks and holes in the walls and on the roofs of old houses, dry leaves of trees in colonies of several hundred individuals. It is an early flyer and prefers to feed on hymenopterans and dipterans. One or two young ones are born after a gestation period of 105-115 days (Bates and Harrison 1997).

This widely distributed species ranges through much of South Asia, southern China and Southeast Asia. In South Asia, it is presently known from Bangladesh (Chittagong, Khulna and Sylhet divisions), India (Nicobar Islands, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Orissa, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and West Bengal), Pakistan (Punjab and Sind) and Sri Lanka (Central, Eastern, Northern, North Central, and Uva provinces) (Khan 2001, Srinivasulu and Srinivasulu 2005, Srinivasulu and Srinivasulu 2012, Aul et al. 2014). This taxon has been recently recorded from Nepal (Dahal et al. 2006). In China, it has been recorded from Fujian, Guangdong, Hong Kong, Hainan, Guangxi, Yunnan and is present on the island of Taiwan (Smith and Xie 2008). In Southeast Asia, it ranges from Myanmar in the west, through Thailand, Lao PDR, Viet Nam, Cambodia, Peninsular Malaysia and possibly Singapore, to Indonesia (Sumatra, Java, Bali, Lombok, Sumba, Flores, Savu and Sulawesi), the island of Timor (East Timor and Indonesia), Borneo (Kalimantan [Indonesia] and Sabah [Malaysia]), to the Philippines. In the Philippines, it is present throughout much of the country, being recorded from Bohol, Biliran, Carabao, Catanduanes, Cebu, Cuyo, Guimaras, Leyte, Luzon (Abra, Bulacan, Cagayan, Cavite, Isabela, Laguna, La Union, Pampanga, Rizal, and Zambales provinces), Maripipi, Mindanao (Davao del Sur, Lanao del Norte, Maguindanao, Misamis Oriental, and South Cotabato provinces), Negros, Palawan, Panay, Polillo, Sibuyan, and Ticao (Lawrence 1939, Taylor 1934, Alcala and Alviola 1970, Heaney et al. 1998) where it occurs from sea level to 600 m (Heaney et al. 1998).

This species has been recorded from many protected areas (Molur et al. 2002). No direct conservation measures are currently needed for the species as a whole.