Eastern long-eared myotis are slow, maneuverable flyers, perfectly adapted for foraging in cluttered forest environments, and they often have been observed gleaning insects directly from foliage. These bats are suspected to forage exclusively beneath the forest canopy where they feed on beetles, moths, caddisflies and mayflies. It ranges along the Atlantic Seaboard south to Florida and Veracruz, Mexico. The evening bat is almost never encountered in caves. It forms nursery colonies in hollow trees, behind loose bark and sometimes in buildings and attics.
Some colonies contain several hundred individuals.
Evening bats emerge soon after dusk and forage on a large array of small nocturnal insects including flying ants, spittle bugs, June beetles, Japanese beetles and moths. In the fall, evening bats store large amounts of fat indicating a lengthy migration to southern parts of its range. Yet, little research has been done to learn exact migration movements of this species. It never has been found hibernating in caves and simply disappears from summer habitats each fall. Once these bats arrive at their over-wintering sites, they are thought to remain active throughout the winter.