[8] The leaves and especially the fruit of F. yoponensis and F. insipida are a preferred food of howler monkeys (Alouatta palliata) in Panama, with one troop on Barro Colorado Island spending one quarter of its time feeding on these two tree species.

[9] Spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi) also feed on the leaves, which contain 11% protein and 4% sugars and remain similar in chemical composition throughout their lifespan, unlike most tree species.

[10][11] When fresh, the young leaves contain up to 585 mg of ascorbic acid (vitamin C) per 100 grams (3.5 oz) and the fruits contain 268 mg per 100 g. Like humans A. palliata and A. geoffroyi require vitamin C in their diet, since they do not possess the gene for L-gulonolactone oxidase, the enzyme required to convert glucose to ascorbic acid.

An experiment in the rainforest, where leaves of F. yoponensis were added to an artificial pool containing 650 mL of water found that sixteen species lived in them, with the mosquito Culex mollis being the most abundant.

Yanoviak found that the average volume of the holes was 0.3 litres (0.53 imp pt) and that they contained 67 individual animals.