In the dense forests of Volcanoes National Park, home to the mountain gorillas, some of the smallest creatures – insects – play a vital role in keeping the ecosystem balanced. As Halloween approaches, a time to celebrate the mysterious and often overlooked, it’s a perfect moment to shine a light on these tiny, unsung helpers of the forest.
Insects help maintain the health of the gorillas’ forest home in several ways, such as with pollination. Many of the plants gorillas rely on for food need insects including bees, butterflies and moths to spread their pollen. Without these insects, those plants wouldn’t reproduce and flourish, which could affect the gorillas’ food supply.

Insects of all kinds are critical to the gorillas’ forest ecosystem.
Beyond pollination, insects also play a key role in maintaining soil health. Beetles and other decomposers break down organic matter, recycling nutrients back into the soil. This process supports the growth of plants that form the foundation of the gorillas’ habitat.
“Insects are natural recyclers in the forest, transforming dead organic matter like plants, animals and waste into life-sustaining nutrients in the environment. Without them, the rich vegetation that nourishes gorillas wouldn’t thrive as it does,” says Aime Bruce Nzeyimana Ngenzi, Fossey Fund biodiversity research assistant, who started his career studying flying insects with the Fossey Fund’s program for Rwandan college students.
Finally, insects are also occasionally a direct source of nutrients for the gorillas themselves! As gorillas forage, they sometimes disturb ant nests and feed on them, which provides an additional source of protein. However, this behavior is not without its challenges, as the ants defend themselves through delivering what look like quite painful bites.
Learning from insects
At the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund, we study insects in gorilla habitats because they also tell us a lot about the health of the environment. Insects like butterflies and beetles are very sensitive to changes in their surroundings, so tracking their numbers helps us understand how the ecosystem is doing.
For example, in 2021, the Fossey Fund conducted a study assessing the diversity and abundance of insects at our Ellen Campus in Rwanda, where we had recently planted more than 250,000 native plants, and which is now an important site for conservation efforts. This study was repeated in 2024, revealing a positive correlation between the regeneration of native plants and the diversity of insect species living on the campus. Such data are crucial for understanding the relationship between specific plant species and pollinators and how reforestation efforts affect overall biodiversity and the health of the ecosystem.
“By tracking insect diversity, we gain vital insights into the health of the forest. When plant diversity increases, so does insect diversity, showing us that the entire ecosystem is thriving,” explains Deogratias Tuyisingize, Ph.D., our biodiversity research manager in Rwanda.
As we continue our work to protect mountain gorillas, it’s clear that every species, no matter how small, has a role to play. Insects might seem tiny or strange, but they’re crucial to keeping the forest healthy and making sure gorillas have what they need to survive. This Halloween, let’s take a moment to appreciate these little creatures that quietly work behind the scenes to keep the forest and the gorillas safe and thriving.
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