The underside is white. The face is a purplish-blue, with creamy cheek fur stretching from the red nose to points on either side of the face below the red ears. Above and below the creamy cheeks are black strips. The russet-eared inhabits the lowland rainforests on Bioko Island and between the Cross and Sanaga rivers on the mainland. They live mainly in lower forest strata and in regenerating secondary forest.
Females defend their territory against other groups and even solitary males.
They eat fruits and insects. As of the spring of 1997, there is no zoo population. Though common in a few forest reserves, it is in decline everywhere.