The lectotype, a skull held at British Museum of Natural History, was nominated in 1968, providing a single specimen from the material collected by Thomas.

[4][3] Prior to analysis that led to the description of new species, the population was assigned to a poorly studied pumilis group of Australian bat taxa.

[11][9] Another bat of the genus, the little forest species Vespadelus vulturnus, is also found in eastern regions, it is usually smaller, a forearm length of less than 31 mm, probably possesses a whitish tragus, a head has a pronounced brow.

The inland forest bat Vespadelus baverstocki is distinguished by its smaller size in their common range to the north, and is paler in colour and lacks the distinct fold at the glans penis.

[8][10] The distribution range extends from southeast Queensland to the Eyre Peninsula, then restricted to the coast until their deeper inland ingress to the semiarid and forested regions of southwest Australia.

The southwest of the continent, across an area to the north of Perth, is a region of low diversity in microbat taxa and none of the megachiropterans; this species is one of around ten to occur there.

[14] A study of roosting habitat and preferences for V. regulus and Nyctophilus gouldi in the Jarrah Forest of Southwest Australia examined the habits of these bats at two locations.

The individuals occupied a number of roosts in a confined locality, a hollow at a high elevation on the tree, and seem to favour riparian zones.

[15] In a survey of the greater Melbourne area, where they are uncommon, the species did not adopt the bat boxes installed to replace their preferred habitat.

[11] They occur in colonies of up to one hundred individuals,[7] and recorded in association with Chalinolobus morio, lesser long-eared Nyctophilus geoffroyi and south-eastern freetail bat.