This species is largely folivorous. It also eats flowers, fruit, and bark. The diet of E. fulvus varies slightly between subspecies and populations.
Red-fronted lemurs are mainly folivorous (leaf-eating). They also consume pods, stems, flowers, fruit, bark and sap of the kily tree (Tamarindus indica). However, they have very adaptable diets. These lemurs have the ability to shift their normally herbivorous diet to invertebrates and fungi when plant matter is scarce. Eastern populations are specifically known to include insects, bird eggs, and dirt in their diets. They are known to have higher dietary diversity than those populations found in the west and a unique predominance of fruit.
Common brown lemurs, white-fronted lemurs, and collared lemurs eat mainly fruit, young leaves and flowers. Sanford's lemurs feed on primarily fruit, occasional plant parts and invertebrates.