The junior synonym Pteropus rubricollis was widely used for flying foxes in general in the 19th century, which has caused some confusion.

This flying fox was nocturnal and had delicate teeth, so it probably fed on nectar and possibly soft fruit.

A description from 1772 states: When I arrived these animals were as common, even in the settled areas, as they are rare today.

They are hunted for their meat, for their fat, for young individuals, throughout all the summer, all the autumn and part of the winter, by whites with a gun, by negros with nets.

It used to be easy, as far as one can judge, to prevent these animals leaving, than to take them out alive one by one, or to suffocate them with smoke, and in one way or another discover the number of males or females of which the association was composed; I do not know any more about this species.