Assumed preference for wet-mesic habitat may actually be a reflection of the sites that have functioned as refugia and enabled the species to persist. Populations occasionally have been reported from high, dry prairie sites as well as wet-mesic prairies. Abundance of larval food plants and suitable nectar plants. No shelter is constructed. Typically late June into mid-July.
Flights tend to be low and rapid, within a foot over the top of the vegetation.
Males patrol larval host patches seeking females. Observed dispersal into adjacent suitable habitat may be a factor of population density. Trees and tall shrubs are effective barriers to dispersal. Diapause occurs in late fall and feeding resumes in early spring. Such surveys must be done by personnel with the expertise to identify poweshiek skipperling adults.