This species occurs in the humid and very humid lower montane and montane cloud forests of north eastern Peru, white sand forests and Podocarpus spp. and Alzatea verticillata dominated forests. (Shanee et al. 2015). Aotus miconax occurs in primary and secondary forest (including disturbed forest, selectively logged and agroforestry ecosystems) (Cornejo et al. 2008, Shanee and Shanee 2011, Shanee et al. 2015, Shanee et al. 2013).

As with most night monkeys, this species is nocturnal with an activity peak at the beginning of the night (Shanee et al. 2013). In one study this species averaged 54% of their time travelling, 13% resting and 33% feeding; their diet consists of fruits (42%), flowers (5%), leaves (6%), buds (25%) and insects (19%). Favourite arboreal food sources include Styloceras laurifolium, Cercropia montana, C. utcubambana, Hyeronima andina, Ficus eximia, Casearia decandra, Chrysophyllum venezuelanense, Ceroxylon peruvianum, Neosprucea montana, Solanum sp., Inga feuillei, Bunchosia armeniaca and Styrax sp.(Shanee et al. 2013).

They are socially monogamous, living in small groups of up to six individuals (Shanee et al. 2013), consisting of an adult pair and offspring of different ages (infant, one or two juveniles and sometimes a sub-adult, with solitary individuals of both sexes found (Shanee et al. 2011), possibly sub-adults that have left their natal groups or older adults which have been evicted from their groups by competitors (Fernandez-Duque and Huntington 2002; Fernandez-Duque 2004). Both sexes disperse. Males carry and care for the infants (Rotundo et al. 2005).

Aotus miconax is endemic to the Peruvian Andes, occurring south and east of the Río Marañón and west of the Río Huallaga in the departments of Amazonas, Huánuco, La Libertad, San Martin and possibly areas of Loreto (Hershkovitz 1983; Aquino and Encarnación 1994a; Shanee et al. 2015). Shanee et al. (2015) suggested distributional limits for this species as the highlands of La Libertad and the Río Marañón to the west, the lowlands of the Río Marañón in Amazonas to the north and the lowlands of Loreto to the north-east, the lowlands of the Rio Huallaga valley to the east. The southern limit of this species distribution is still not well defined but A. nancymaae is present to ~1,000 m asl. in this area (Shanee et al. 2015). Aquino and Encarnacion (1994) suggest this species is found south to the Rio Aguaytia. This species has been recorded at elevations from 800 to 3,100 m asl. (Campbell 2011; Shanee et al. 2015).

This species occurs in several protected areas:

• Abiseo National Park (274,500 ha) (Aquino and Encarnación 1994)
• Cordillera de Colán (Butchart et al. 1995)
• Bosque de Proteccion Alto Mayo ((Delukyer 2007, Shanee 2011).
• Zona Reservada Rio Nieva (S. Shanee  unpubl.)

This species also occurs in several private and communal protected areas ranging in size from 3,000 to 50,000 ha. It is listed on Appendix II of CITES.